hiervshiversWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: hier is a adverb, hivers is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hier” is an adverb and “hivers” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#507
“hier” frequency rank
#16,902
“hivers” frequency rank
17409
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hier hivers
Definition Le jour qui précède immédiatement celui où l’on est. Il y a un jour. Pluriel de hiver.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hier and hivers apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
hier
6 ch
hivers

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hier is \jɛʁ\ while hivers is \i.vɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17409, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hier is recorded at frequency rank #507, classified as anadv, pronounced \jɛʁ\. hivers is at rank #16,902, tagged as anoun, pronounced \i.vɛʁ\.

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 17409, this pair ranks #383,309 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hier vs hivers

Shared letters: ehir. Private to "hier": -. Private to "hivers": sv.

"hier" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "hivers" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hierheir · hhier · hierr · hire · iher
  • hivershhivers · hievrs · hiverrs · hiverss · hivesr · hivres · hivvers · hviers

Frequency comparison

hier#507
hivers#16,902

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hier" and "hivers" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hier" is an adverb and "hivers" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "hier" or "hivers"?
"hier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #507 in our French list, against #16,902 for "hivers". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering hier vs hivers

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “hier”; for a noun, it's “hivers”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “hier” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list