opèrevsouvreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,899
“opère” frequency rank
#1,369
“ouvre” frequency rank
10268
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature opère ouvre
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de opérer. Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de ouvrir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set opère and ouvre apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
opère
5 ch
ouvre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. opère (\ɔ.pɛʁ\) and ouvre (\uvʁ\) 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 10268, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

opère is recorded at frequency rank #8,899, classified as averb, pronounced \ɔ.pɛʁ\. ouvre is at rank #1,369, tagged as averb, pronounced \uvʁ\.

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 10268, this pair ranks #413,625 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of opère vs ouvre

Shared letters: eor. Private to "opère": . Private to "ouvre": uv.

"opère" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "ouvre" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ouvreourve · ouver · ouvrre · ouvvre · ovure · uovre

Frequency comparison

opère#8,899
ouvre#1,369

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "opère" and "ouvre" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɔ.pɛʁ\ versus \uvʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "opère" or "ouvre"?
"ouvre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,369 in our French list, against #8,899 for "opère". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering opère vs ouvre

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 “opère” 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