jarvsjarreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“jar” and “jarre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,564
“jar” frequency rank
#28,218
“jarre” frequency rank
63782
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature jar jarre
Definition Banc de gros graviers et de sable, amoncellements, pouvant remodeler le lit du fleuve d’une année sur l’autre, et utilisés pour l’empierrement des chaussées, la confection de béton. Récipient généralement en terre cuite, de forme ovoïde et de différentes dimensions, où l’on conserve l’eau, l’huile, les olives.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
jar
5 ch
jarre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. jar and jarre are pronounced identically (\ʒaʁ\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “jar” sits inside “jarre”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63782, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

jar is recorded at frequency rank #35,564, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʒaʁ\. jarre is at rank #28,218, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʒaʁ\.

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 63782, this pair ranks #80,246 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of jar vs jarre

Shared letters: ajr. Private to "jar": -. Private to "jarre": e.

"jar" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "jarre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • jarreajrre · jare · jarer · jjarre · jrare

Frequency comparison

jar#35,564
jarre#28,218

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "jar" and "jarre" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ʒaʁ\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "jar" or "jarre"?
"jarre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,218 in our French list, against #35,564 for "jar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering jar vs jarre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “jar” 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