oursvsoutrésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ours is a noun, outrés is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ours” is a noun and “outrés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,358
“ours” frequency rank
#46,329
“outrés” frequency rank
50687
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ours outrés
Definition Plantigrade, carnassier ou omnivore, à fourrure épaisse, de la famille des ursidés. Masculin pluriel de outré.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ours and outrés apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
ours
6 ch
outrés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ours is \uʁs\ while outrés is \u.tʁe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50687, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ours is recorded at frequency rank #4,358, classified as anoun, pronounced \uʁs\. outrés is at rank #46,329, tagged as anadj, pronounced \u.tʁe\.

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 50687, this pair ranks #160,713 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ours vs outrés

Shared letters: orsu. Private to "ours": -. Private to "outrés": .

"ours" · 4 letters · shape VVCC  ·  "outrés" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • oursorus · ourrs · ourss · ousr · uors

Frequency comparison

ours#4,358
outrés#46,329

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ours" and "outrés" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ours" is a noun and "outrés" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ours" or "outrés"?
"ours" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,358 in our French list, against #46,329 for "outrés". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering ours vs outrés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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