ouvrantvsouvronsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ouvrant is a adjective, ouvrons is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#7,473
“ouvrant” frequency rank
#31,162
“ouvrons” frequency rank
38635
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ouvrant ouvrons
Definition Qualifie une ouverture qui peut s’ouvrir. Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de ouvrir.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
ouvrant
7 ch
ouvrons

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ouvrant is \u.vʁɑ̃\ while ouvrons is \u.vʁɔ̃\. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38635, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ouvrant is recorded at frequency rank #7,473, classified as anadj, pronounced \u.vʁɑ̃\. ouvrons is at rank #31,162, tagged as averb, pronounced \u.vʁɔ̃\.

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 38635, this pair ranks #253,896 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ouvrant vs ouvrons

Shared letters: noruv. Private to "ouvrant": at. Private to "ouvrons": s.

"ouvrant" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC  ·  "ouvrons" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ouvrantourvant · ouvarnt · ouvrannt · ouvrantt · ouvratn · ouvrnat · ouvrrant · ouvvrant
  • ouvronsourvons · ouvorns · ouvrnos · ouvronns · ouvronss · ouvrosn · ouvrrons · ouvvrons

Frequency comparison

ouvrant#7,473
ouvrons#31,162

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ouvrant" and "ouvrons" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ouvrant" is an adjective and "ouvrons" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ouvrant" or "ouvrons"?
"ouvrant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,473 in our French list, against #31,162 for "ouvrons". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ouvrant vs ouvrons

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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