gérezvsguèreWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: gérez is a verb, guère is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“gérez” is a verb and “guère” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,189
“gérez” frequency rank
#3,924
“guère” frequency rank
32113
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature gérez guère
Definition Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de gérer. Presque pas ; presque rien.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gérez and guère apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
gérez
5 ch
guère

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: gérez is \ʒe.ʁe\ while guère is \ɡɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32113, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gérez is recorded at frequency rank #28,189, classified as averb, pronounced \ʒe.ʁe\. guère is at rank #3,924, tagged as anadv, pronounced \ɡɛʁ\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 32113, this pair ranks #299,498 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of gérez vs guère

Shared letters: egr. Private to "gérez": . Private to "guère": .

"gérez" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "guère" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Frequency comparison

gérez#28,189
guère#3,924

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gérez" and "guère" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gérez" is a verb and "guère" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "gérez" or "guère"?
"guère" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,924 in our French list, against #28,189 for "gérez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gérez vs guère

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “gérez”; for an adverb, it's “guère”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gérez” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list