vitrevsvitrineWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“vitre” and “vitrine” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,795
“vitre” frequency rank
#9,941
“vitrine” frequency rank
18736
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vitre vitrine
Definition Plaque de verre située sur une ouverture telle qu’une porte ou une fenêtre. Devanture vitrée d’une boutique.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vitre and vitrine apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
vitre
7 ch
vitrine

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. vitre (\vitʁ\) and vitrine (\vi.tʁin\) 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 18736, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vitre is recorded at frequency rank #8,795, classified as anoun, pronounced \vitʁ\. vitrine is at rank #9,941, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vi.tʁin\.

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 18736, this pair ranks #376,836 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vitre vs vitrine

Shared letters: eirtv. Private to "vitre": -. Private to "vitrine": n.

"vitre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "vitrine" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vitreivtre · virte · viter · vitrre · vittre · vtire · vvitre
  • vitrineivtrine · virtine · vitirne · vitrien · vitrinne · vitrnie · vitrrine · vittrine

Frequency comparison

vitre#8,795
vitrine#9,941

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vitre" and "vitrine" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\vitʁ\ versus \vi.tʁin\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vitre" or "vitrine"?
"vitre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,795 in our French list, against #9,941 for "vitrine". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vitre vs vitrine

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vitre” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list