Which to use
“ouvrez” and “ouvrir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,266
- “ouvrez” frequency rank
- #1,186
- “ouvrir” frequency rank
- 12452
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ouvrez | ouvrir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de ouvrir. | Faire que ce qui était clos, fermé, ne le soit plus. |
Where the eye mixes ouvrez and ouvrir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ouvrez and ouvrir follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses ouvrez with ouvrir
A purely visual mix-up. ouvrez (\u.vʁe\) and ouvrir (\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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12452, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ouvrez is recorded at frequency rank #11,266, classified as averb, pronounced \u.vʁe\. ouvrir is at rank #1,186, 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 12452, this pair ranks #405,221 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ouvrez vs ouvrir
Shared letters: oruv. Private to "ouvrez": ez. Private to "ouvrir": i.
"ouvrez" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC · "ouvrir" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ouvrez" for "ouvrir" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ouvrez" or "ouvrir"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ouvrez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ouvrir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #405,221 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ouvrez" and "ouvrir" 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 #405,221 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.