vole vs votes, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“vole” and “votes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,158
“vole” frequency rank: #2,324
“votes” frequency rank: 47482
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	vole	votes
Definition	Any of a large number of species of small rodents of the tribes Arvicolini, Ellobiusini, Clethrionomyini, Pliomyini, Phenacomyini and Prometheomyini.	plural of vote

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vole and votes apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

vole

5 ch

votes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. vole (/vəʊl/) and votes (/vəʊts/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47482, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vole is recorded at frequency rank #45,158, classified as anoun, pronounced /vəʊl/. votes is at rank #2,324, tagged as anoun, pronounced /vəʊts/.

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 47482, this pair ranks #202,022 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vole vs votes

Shared letters: eov. Private to "vole": l. Private to "votes": st.

"vole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "votes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

vole ← ovle · vloe · voel · volle · vvole
votes ← ovtes · voets · votess · votse · vottes · vtoes · vvotes

Frequency comparison

vole#45,158

votes#2,324

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vole" and "votes" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/vəʊl/ versus /vəʊts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "vole" or "votes"?

"votes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,324 in our English list, against #45,158 for "vole". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering vole vs votes

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 “vole” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable