Which to use
“obéir” and “obtenir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,367
- “obéir” frequency rank
- #906
- “obtenir” frequency rank
- 11273
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obéir | obtenir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Se soumettre à une demande, une règle ou une obligation d’une personne ; exécuter un ordre donné. | Se faire accorder par tel ou tel moyen une chose que l’on désire. |
Where the eye mixes obéir and obtenir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. obéir runs 5 letters (VCVVC) against obtenir's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: obéir vs obtenir
A purely visual mix-up. obéir (\ɔ.be.iʁ\) and obtenir (\ɔp.tə.niʁ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11273, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
obéir is recorded at frequency rank #10,367, classified as averb, pronounced \ɔ.be.iʁ\. obtenir is at rank #906, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɔp.tə.niʁ\.
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 11273, this pair ranks #409,757 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of obéir vs obtenir
Shared letters: bior. Private to "obéir": é. Private to "obtenir": ent.
"obéir" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "obtenir" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- obtenir ← botenir · obbtenir · obetnir · obteinr · obtenirr · obtennir · obtenri · obtneir
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "obéir" and "obtenir" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "obéir" vs "obtenir" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "obéir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "obtenir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #409,757 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "obéir" and "obtenir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obéir vs obéis". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #409,757 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.