ouvraitvsouvriraitWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,211
“ouvrait” frequency rank
#39,434
“ouvrirait” frequency rank
56645
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ouvrait ouvrirait
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de ouvrir. Troisième personne du singulier du conditionnel de ouvrir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ouvrait and ouvrirait apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
ouvrait
9 ch
ouvrirait

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ouvrait (\u.vʁɛ\) and ouvrirait (\u.vʁi.ʁɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56645, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ouvrait is recorded at frequency rank #17,211, classified as averb, pronounced \u.vʁɛ\. ouvrirait is at rank #39,434, tagged as averb, pronounced \u.vʁi.ʁɛ\.

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 56645, this pair ranks #119,805 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ouvrait vs ouvrirait

Shared letters: aiortuv. Private to "ouvrait": -. Private to "ouvrirait": -.

"ouvrait" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVVC  ·  "ouvrirait" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ouvraitourvait · ouvarit · ouvraitt · ouvrati · ouvriat · ouvrrait · ouvvrait · ovurait
  • ouvriraitourvirait · ouvirrait · ouvriarit · ouvriraitt · ouvrirati · ouvririat · ouvrirrait · ouvrriait

Frequency comparison

ouvrait#17,211
ouvrirait#39,434

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ouvrait" and "ouvrirait" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\u.vʁɛ\ versus \u.vʁi.ʁɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ouvrait" or "ouvrirait"?
"ouvrait" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,211 in our French list, against #39,434 for "ouvrirait". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ouvrait vs ouvrirait

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 “ouvrait” 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