Which to use
“ouvrier” and “ouvrières” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,685
- “ouvrier” frequency rank
- #17,212
- “ouvrières” frequency rank
- 22897
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ouvrier | ouvrières |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui travaille, œuvrant. | Féminin pluriel de l’adjectif ouvrier. |
Where the eye mixes ouvrier and ouvrières
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ouvrier runs 7 letters (VVCCVVC) against ouvrières's 9 (VVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ouvrier vs ouvrières
A purely visual mix-up. ouvrier (\u.vʁi.je\) and ouvrières (\u.vʁi.jɛʁ\) 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 22897, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ouvrier is recorded at frequency rank #5,685, classified as anadj, pronounced \u.vʁi.je\. ouvrières is at rank #17,212, tagged as anadj, pronounced \u.vʁi.jɛʁ\.
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 22897, this pair ranks #355,506 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ouvrier vs ouvrières
Shared letters: eioruv. Private to "ouvrier": -. Private to "ouvrières": sè.
"ouvrier" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVVC · "ouvrières" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ouvrier ← ourvier · ouvirer · ouvreir · ouvrierr · ouvrire · ouvrrier · ouvvrier · ovurier
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ouvrier" and "ouvrières" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "ouvrier" or "ouvrières" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ouvrier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ouvrières" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #355,506 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ouvrier" and "ouvrières" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oeuvrer vs ouvrier". 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 #355,506 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.