manœuvrervsmanœuvresWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: manœuvrer is a verb, manœuvres is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“manœuvrer” is a verb and “manœuvres” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,776
“manœuvrer” frequency rank
#12,194
“manœuvres” frequency rank
45970
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature manœuvrer manœuvres
Definition Faire fonctionner avec la main. Pluriel de manœuvre (personne).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set manœuvrer and manœuvres apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
manœuvrer
9 ch
manœuvres

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: manœuvrer is \ma.nœ.vʁe\ while manœuvres is \ma.nœvʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “manœuvrer” becomes s in “manœuvres”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45970, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

manœuvrer is recorded at frequency rank #33,776, classified as averb, pronounced \ma.nœ.vʁe\. manœuvres is at rank #12,194, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ma.nœvʁ\.

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 45970, this pair ranks #198,654 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of manœuvrer vs manœuvres

Shared letters: aemnruvœ. Private to "manœuvrer": -. Private to "manœuvres": s.

"manœuvrer" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC  ·  "manœuvres" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC

Frequency comparison

manœuvrer#33,776
manœuvres#12,194

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "manœuvrer" and "manœuvres" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "manœuvrer" is a verb and "manœuvres" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "manœuvrer" or "manœuvres"?
"manœuvres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,194 in our French list, against #33,776 for "manœuvrer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering manœuvrer vs manœuvres

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “manœuvrer”; for a noun, it's “manœuvres”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “manœuvrer” 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