nostravsnotreWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: nostra is a adjective, notre is a determiner, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“nostra” is an adjective and “notre” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,069
“nostra” frequency rank
#114
“notre” frequency rank
36183
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nostra notre
Definition Féminin de nostro Première personne du pluriel au singulier. Qui nous appartient. Plusieurs possesseurs (dont l’un est le locuteur) et un seul objet.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
nostra
5 ch
notre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nostra is \ˈnɔ.stra\ while notre is \nɔtʁ\. 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 (adjective vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36183, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nostra is recorded at frequency rank #36,069, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈnɔ.stra\. notre is at rank #114, tagged as adet, pronounced \nɔtʁ\.

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 36183, this pair ranks #271,431 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nostra vs notre

Shared letters: nort. Private to "nostra": as. Private to "notre": e.

"nostra" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "notre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • nostrannostra · nosrta · nosstra · nostar · nostrra · nosttra · notsra · nsotra
  • notrennotre · norte · notrre · nottre · ntore · ontre

Frequency comparison

nostra#36,069
notre#114

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "nostra" and "notre" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "nostra" is an adjective and "notre" a determiner, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "nostra" or "notre"?
"notre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #114 in our French list, against #36,069 for "nostra". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering nostra vs notre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “nostra”; for a determiner, it's “notre”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “nostra” 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