Which to use
“opérait” and “ouvrait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,431
- “opérait” frequency rank
- #17,211
- “ouvrait” frequency rank
- 56642
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | opérait | ouvrait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de opérer. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de ouvrir. |
Where the eye mixes opérait and ouvrait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. opérait (VCVCVVC) and ouvrait (VVCCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between opérait and ouvrait
A purely visual mix-up. opérait (\ɔ.pe.ʁɛ\) and ouvrait (\u.vʁɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56642, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
opérait is recorded at frequency rank #39,431, classified as averb, pronounced \ɔ.pe.ʁɛ\. ouvrait is at rank #17,211, tagged as averb, pronounced \u.vʁɛ\.
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 56642, this pair ranks #119,827 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of opérait vs ouvrait
Shared letters: aiort. Private to "opérait": pé. Private to "ouvrait": uv.
"opérait" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVVC · "ouvrait" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ouvrait ← ourvait · ouvarit · ouvraitt · ouvrati · ouvriat · ouvrrait · ouvvrait · ovurait
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "opérait" and "ouvrait" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "opérait" vs "ouvrait" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "opérait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ouvrait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #119,827 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "opérait" and "ouvrait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "opérait vs oserai". 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 #119,827 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.