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 eye mixes ouvrait and ouvrirait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. ouvrait runs 7 letters (VVCCVVC) against ouvrirait's 9 (VVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses ouvrait with ouvrirait
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ouvrait" and "ouvrirait" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ouvrait" or "ouvrirait"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ouvrait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ouvrirait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #119,805 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ouvrait" and "ouvrirait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ouvrirait vs ouvrirent". 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 #119,805 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.