Français homophones

vil/vile/ville/villes/vils

"vil" is an adjective; "ville" is a noun - 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: "vil" arrives as an adjective, while "ville" is a noun. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.

Spelling pairs in this cluster

Shared stem "vil" then splits - "vil" (3 letters) vs "vile" (4).
Shared stem "vil" then splits - "vil" (3 letters) vs "ville" (5).
Shared stem "vil" then splits - "vil" (3 letters) vs "villes" (6).
Shared stem "vil" then splits - "vil" (3 letters) vs "vils" (4).
Shared stem "vil" then splits - "vile" (4 letters) vs "ville" (5).
Shared stem "vil" then splits - "vile" (4 letters) vs "villes" (6).
Single-letter fork: "vile" keeps e, "vils" writes s at letter 4.
Shared stem "ville" then splits - "ville" (5 letters) vs "villes" (6).
Shared stem "vil" then splits - "ville" (5 letters) vs "vils" (4).
Shared stem "vil" then splits - "villes" (6 letters) vs "vils" (4).

Orthographic DNA of this cluster

Shared letters across vil, vile, ville, villes, vils: ilv. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.

vil
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory ilv · no private letters vs siblings
vile
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCV
Inventory eilv · private e
ville
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCCV
Inventory eilv · private e
villes
6 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCCVC
Inventory eilsv · private es
vils
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory ilsv · private s

Pick the spelling from the meaning

Write "vil" when you mean: Qui est bas, abject, méprisable.
Write "vile" when you mean: Féminin singulier de vil.
Write "ville" when you mean: Assemblage ordonné d'un nombre assez considérable de maisons disposées par rues, et limitées parfois par une enceinte.
Write "villes" when you mean: Pluriel de ville.
Write "vils" when you mean: Masculin pluriel de vil.

Known mistypes of these spellings

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

vile ← ivle · vlie · vvile
ville ← ivlle · vilel · vlile · vville
villes ← ivlles · vilels · viles · villess · villse · vliles
vils ← ivls · vills · vilss · visl · vlis · vvils

Each spelling

vil

adjective · /\vil\/ · #23,730 frequency

Qui est bas, abject, méprisable.

vile

adjective · /\vil\/ · #37,122 frequency

Féminin singulier de vil.

ville

noun · /\vil\/ · #182 frequency

Assemblage ordonné d'un nombre assez considérable de maisons disposées par rues, et limitées parfois par une enceinte.

villes

noun · /\vil\/ · #891 frequency

Pluriel de ville.

vils

adjective · /\vil\/ · #44,805 frequency

Masculin pluriel de vil.