oui

\wi\

/\wi\/ adv

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“oui” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #132) as an adverb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#132
frequency rank, French
1,642
“O” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Mot utilisé pour apporter une réponse affirmative ou marquer l'accord sur une proposition. Il s’emploie aussi au début d’une phrase qui ne répond pas à une question exprimée ou au cours d’une phras...

Corpus desk

Index FR-oui · oui · French

oui · rank #132 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #132
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,642
  • PHOTO-FINISH juste

Nearest frequency peer: juste (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “oui”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “oui” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 2, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

oui vs ow
33% similar
oui vs ox
33% similar
oui vs oy
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for oui
PropertyValue
Headwordoui
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdverb
IPA\wi\
Letters3
Frequency rank#132
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “oui” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). oui lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for oui is neighbouring look-alikes ("ow", "ox", …), not just typos; it is anadverb pronounced \wi\. Frequency #132 among 1,642 “O” headwords. 5 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No generated misspelling entries exist for oui in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ow", "ox", "oy", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is oui, spelled O-U-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mot utilisé pour apporter une réponse affirmative ou marquer l'accord sur une proposition. Il s’emploie aussi au début d’une phrase qui ne répond pas à une question exprimée ou au cours d’une phrase, pour marquer ou accentuer le caractère affirmatif de cette phrase. Il s’emploie dans le discours direct en réponse à une interrogation. Il est alors seul ou joint à des adverbes qui renforcent l’affirmation comme certes, vraiment, etc.
  2. 2
    Comme marqueur de question-tag pour signifier l'agacement ou l'impatience.
  3. 3
    Pour indiquer que l'on écoute ou que l'on comprend ce qui est dit, sans forcément l'approuver.
  4. 4
    Question courte signifiant "Que désirez-vous ?".
  5. 5
    C’est vrai. C’est ça.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how oui appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Avez-vous fait cela ? — Oui.
  2. Cela est-il vrai ? — Oui, certes.

Synonyms

absolumentaffirmatifc’est çac’est clairc’est pas fauxcarrémentcertainementcertescomment doncet comment donccomplètementd’accordj’avoueouattotalementtout à faityeahyesyes sir

This word in other languages

yes(English)sí(Español)ja(Deutsch)sim(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "oui"?
"oui" is spelled O-U-I. The IPA pronunciation is \wi\.
What does "oui" mean?
As an adverb, "oui" means: Mot utilisé pour apporter une réponse affirmative ou marquer l'accord sur une proposition. Il s’emploie aussi au début d’une phrase qui ne répond pas à une question exprimée ou au cours d’une phras...
What words are commonly confused with "oui"?
"oui" is commonly confused with "ow", "ox", "oy". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "oui"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "oui" is \wi\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "oui" come from?
"oui" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "oui", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ton#127mes#139toi#120nos#147
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list