Which to use
“ouvrent” and “ouvrirent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,724
- “ouvrent” frequency rank
- #48,697
- “ouvrirent” frequency rank
- 55421
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ouvrent | ouvrirent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de ouvrir. | Troisième personne du pluriel du passé simple de ouvrir. |
Where the eye mixes ouvrent and ouvrirent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. ouvrent runs 7 letters (VVCCVCC) against ouvrirent's 9 (VVCCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ouvrent and ouvrirent
A purely visual mix-up. ouvrent (\uvʁ\) and ouvrirent (\u.vʁiʁ\) 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 55421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ouvrent is recorded at frequency rank #6,724, classified as averb, pronounced \uvʁ\. ouvrirent is at rank #48,697, tagged as averb, pronounced \u.vʁiʁ\.
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 55421, this pair ranks #127,551 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ouvrent vs ouvrirent
Shared letters: enortuv. Private to "ouvrent": -. Private to "ouvrirent": i.
"ouvrent" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVCC · "ouvrirent" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ouvrent" and "ouvrirent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "ouvrent" or "ouvrirent"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ouvrent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ouvrirent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #127,551 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ouvrent" and "ouvrirent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ouvraient 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 #127,551 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.