Which to use
“ouvre” and “ouvrez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,369
- “ouvre” frequency rank
- #11,266
- “ouvrez” frequency rank
- 12635
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ouvre | ouvrez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de ouvrir. | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de ouvrir. |
Where the eye mixes ouvre and ouvrez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. ouvre runs 5 letters (VVCCV) against ouvrez's 6 (VVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses ouvre with ouvrez
A purely visual mix-up. ouvre (\uvʁ\) and ouvrez (\u.vʁe\) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “ouvre” sits inside “ouvrez”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12635, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ouvre is recorded at frequency rank #1,369, classified as averb, pronounced \uvʁ\. ouvrez is at rank #11,266, tagged as averb, pronounced \u.vʁe\.
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 12635, this pair ranks #404,426 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ouvre vs ouvrez
Shared letters: eoruv. Private to "ouvre": -. Private to "ouvrez": z.
"ouvre" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV · "ouvrez" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ouvre" for "ouvrez" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ouvre" vs "ouvrez" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ouvre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ouvrez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #404,426 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ouvre" and "ouvrez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oeuvrer vs ouvrez". 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 #404,426 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.