neutrevsneuveWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,371
“neutre” frequency rank
#5,265
“neuve” frequency rank
10636
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature neutre neuve
Definition Qui ne prend pas parti, qui ne doit pas prendre parti dans un conflit, dans un débat, etc. Féminin singulier de neuf.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
neutre
5 ch
neuve

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. neutre (\nøtʁ\) and neuve (\nœv\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10636, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

neutre is recorded at frequency rank #5,371, classified as anadj, pronounced \nøtʁ\. neuve is at rank #5,265, tagged as anadj, pronounced \nœv\.

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 10636, this pair ranks #412,223 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of neutre vs neuve

Shared letters: enu. Private to "neutre": rt. Private to "neuve": v.

"neutre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "neuve" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • neutreenutre · neture · neurte · neuter · neutrre · neuttre · nneutre · nuetre
  • neuveenuve · neuev · neuvve · nevue · nneuve · nueve

Frequency comparison

neutre#5,371
neuve#5,265

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "neutre" and "neuve" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\nøtʁ\ versus \nœv\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "neutre" or "neuve"?
"neuve" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,265 in our French list, against #5,371 for "neutre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering neutre vs neuve

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 “neutre” 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