Which to use
“ouvrière” is a noun and “ouvrières” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,280
- “ouvrière” frequency rank
- #17,212
- “ouvrières” frequency rank
- 25492
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ouvrière | ouvrières |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Celle qui, moyennant salaire, effectue un travail généralement manuel pour un employeur dans les domaines du bâtiment, de l’industrie ou de l’agriculture. | Féminin pluriel de l’adjectif ouvrier. |
Same sound, different letters: ouvrière vs ouvrières
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. ouvrière runs 8 letters (VVCCVVCV) against ouvrières's 9 (VVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - ouvrière and ouvrières
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: ouvrière and ouvrières carry the same recorded pronunciation, \u.vʁi.jɛʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “ouvrière” sits inside “ouvrières”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ouvrière is recorded at frequency rank #8,280, classified as anoun, pronounced \u.vʁi.jɛʁ\. 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 25492, this pair ranks #340,553 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ouvrière vs ouvrières
Shared letters: eioruvè. Private to "ouvrière": -. Private to "ouvrières": s.
"ouvrière" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVVCV · "ouvrières" · 9 letters · shape VVCCVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ouvrière" and "ouvrières" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ouvrière" or "ouvrières"?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "ouvrière" 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 #340,553 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ouvrière" and "ouvrières" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ouvrier vs ouvrières". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #340,553 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.