Which to use
“ordre” is a noun and “ouvre” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #419
- “ordre” frequency rank
- #1,369
- “ouvre” frequency rank
- 1788
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ordre | ouvre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Arrangement raisonné et logique, disposition régulière des choses les unes par rapport aux autres. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de ouvrir. |
Where the eye mixes ordre and ouvre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ordre (VCCCV) and ouvre (VVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: ordre vs ouvre
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ordre is \ɔʁdʁ\ while ouvre is \uvʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1788, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ordre is recorded at frequency rank #419, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔʁdʁ\. 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 1788, this pair ranks #437,396 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ordre vs ouvre
Shared letters: eor. Private to "ordre": d. Private to "ouvre": uv.
"ordre" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV · "ouvre" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ordre" for "ouvre" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ordre" vs "ouvre" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ordre" and "ouvre" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ordre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ouvre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #437,396 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ordre" and "ouvre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oeuvrer vs ouvre". 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 #437,396 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.