Which to use
“recouvrir” and “rouvrir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,851
- “recouvrir” frequency rank
- #19,665
- “rouvrir” frequency rank
- 38516
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | recouvrir | rouvrir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Couvrir de nouveau. | Ouvrir de nouveau, ouvrir ce qui avait été fermé. |
Where the eye mixes recouvrir and rouvrir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. recouvrir runs 9 letters (CVCVVCCVC) against rouvrir's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: recouvrir vs rouvrir
A purely visual mix-up. recouvrir (\ʁə.ku.vʁiʁ\) and rouvrir (\ʁu.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 38516, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
recouvrir is recorded at frequency rank #18,851, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁə.ku.vʁiʁ\. rouvrir is at rank #19,665, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁu.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 38516, this pair ranks #254,733 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of recouvrir vs rouvrir
Shared letters: ioruv. Private to "recouvrir": ce. Private to "rouvrir": -.
"recouvrir" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC · "rouvrir" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "recouvrir" and "rouvrir" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "recouvrir" vs "rouvrir" - which ranks higher?
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 "recouvrir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rouvrir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #254,733 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "recouvrir" and "rouvrir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "recouvré vs recouvrir". 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 #254,733 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.