Français homophones

van/vans/vends/vent/vents

"van" is a noun; "vends" is a verb - grammar picks the spelling, not sound. Size rank #101 of 9,139 French groups.

Data vintage 2026-05-06

Grammar picks the spelling

Same sound, different grammar: "van" arrives as a noun, while "vends" is a verb. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.

Spelling pairs in this cluster

Shared stem "van" then splits - "van" (3 letters) vs "vans" (4).
No shared spelling stem: "van" is 3 letters, "vends" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "van" is 3 letters, "vent" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "van" is 3 letters, "vents" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "vans" is 4 letters, "vends" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "vans" is 4 letters, "vent" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "vans" is 4 letters, "vents" is 5; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "ven" then splits - "vends" (5 letters) vs "vent" (4).
Shared stem "ven" then splits - "vends" (5 letters) vs "vents" (5).
Shared stem "vent" then splits - "vent" (4 letters) vs "vents" (5).

Orthographic DNA of this cluster

Shared letters across van, vans, vends, vent, vents: nv. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.

van
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory anv · private a
vans
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory ansv · private as
vends
5 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCCC
Inventory densv · private des
vent
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory entv · private et
vents
5 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCCC
Inventory enstv · private est

Pick the spelling from the meaning

Write "van" when you mean: Instrument d’osier, en forme de coquille, qui a deux anses, et dont on se sert pour secouer le grain, les impuretés, afin de séparer la p…
Write "vans" when you mean: Pluriel de van.
Write "vends" when you mean: Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de vendre.
Write "vent" when you mean: Mouvement d’air extérieur et nettement perceptible suivant une direction déterminée.
Write "vents" when you mean: Dans un orchestre symphonique, section regroupant les instruments à vent.

Known mistypes of these spellings

Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.

vans ← avns · vanns · vanss · vasn · vnas · vvans
vends ← evnds · vedns · vendds · vendss · vennds · vensd
vent ← evnt · vennt · ventt · vetn · vnet · vvent
vents ← evnts · vennts · venst · ventss · ventts · vetns

Each spelling

van

noun · /\vɑ̃\/ · #1,759 frequency

Instrument d’osier, en forme de coquille, qui a deux anses, et dont on se sert pour secouer le grain, les impuretés, afin de séparer la paille d’avec le bon grain.

vans

noun · /\vɑ̃\/ · #32,229 frequency

Pluriel de van.

vends

verb · /\vɑ̃\/ · #8,479 frequency

Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de vendre.

vent

noun · /\vɑ̃\/ · #1,352 frequency

Mouvement d’air extérieur et nettement perceptible suivant une direction déterminée.

vents

noun · /\vɑ̃\/ · #5,202 frequency

Dans un orchestre symphonique, section regroupant les instruments à vent.