Which to use
“guère” is an adverb and “guéris” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,924
- “guère” frequency rank
- #28,186
- “guéris” frequency rank
- 32110
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | guère | guéris |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Presque pas ; presque rien. | Masculin pluriel de guéri. |
Where the eye mixes guère and guéris
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. guère runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against guéris's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses guère with guéris
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: guère is \ɡɛʁ\ while guéris is \ɡe.ʁi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32110, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
guère is recorded at frequency rank #3,924, classified as anadv, pronounced \ɡɛʁ\. guéris is at rank #28,186, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɡe.ʁi\.
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 32110, this pair ranks #299,517 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of guère vs guéris
Shared letters: gru. Private to "guère": eè. Private to "guéris": isé.
"guère" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "guéris" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "guère" for "guéris" ever safe?
Frequency check: "guère" vs "guéris" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "guère" and "guéris" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "guère" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "guéris" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #299,517 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "guère" and "guéris" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "guéret vs guéris". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #299,517 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.