oubliervsouvrierWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: oublier is a verb, ouvrier is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“oublier” is a verb and “ouvrier” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,204
“oublier” frequency rank
#5,685
“ouvrier” frequency rank
6889
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature oublier ouvrier
Definition Perdre le souvenir de quelqu'un ou quelque chose. Qui travaille, œuvrant.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set oublier and ouvrier apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
oublier
7 ch
ouvrier

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: oublier is \u.bli.je\ while ouvrier is \u.vʁi.je\. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6889, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

oublier is recorded at frequency rank #1,204, classified as averb, pronounced \u.bli.je\. ouvrier is at rank #5,685, tagged as anadj, pronounced \u.vʁi.je\.

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 6889, this pair ranks #424,911 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of oublier vs ouvrier

Shared letters: eioru. Private to "oublier": bl. Private to "ouvrier": v.

"oublier" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVVC  ·  "ouvrier" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • oublierobulier · oubblier · oubiler · oubleir · oublierr · oublire · oubllier · oulbier
  • ouvrierourvier · ouvirer · ouvreir · ouvrierr · ouvrire · ouvrrier · ouvvrier · ovurier

Frequency comparison

oublier#1,204
ouvrier#5,685

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "oublier" and "ouvrier" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "oublier" is a verb and "ouvrier" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "oublier" or "ouvrier"?
"oublier" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,204 in our French list, against #5,685 for "ouvrier". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering oublier vs ouvrier

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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