Which to use
“ouvrier” is an adjective and “ouvrir” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,685
- “ouvrier” frequency rank
- #1,186
- “ouvrir” frequency rank
- 6871
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ouvrier | ouvrir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui travaille, œuvrant. | Faire que ce qui était clos, fermé, ne le soit plus. |
Where the eye mixes ouvrier and ouvrir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ouvrier with ouvrir
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ouvrier is \u.vʁi.je\ while ouvrir is \u.vʁiʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6871, 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\. 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 6871, this pair ranks #424,961 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ouvrier vs ouvrir
Shared letters: ioruv. Private to "ouvrier": e. Private to "ouvrir": -.
"ouvrier" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVVC · "ouvrir" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ouvrier" and "ouvrir" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "ouvrier" or "ouvrir"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ouvrier" 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 #424,961 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ouvrier" and "ouvrir" 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 #424,961 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.