Which to use
“avis” is a noun and “avons” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #503
- “avis” frequency rank
- #242
- “avons” frequency rank
- 745
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | avis | avons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ce que l’on pense et aussi ce que l’on en dit ; opinion. | Première personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de avoir. |
Where the eye mixes avis and avons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses avis with avons
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: avis is \a.vi\ while avons is \a.vɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 745, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
avis is recorded at frequency rank #503, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.vi\. avons is at rank #242, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.vɔ̃\.
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 745, this pair ranks #439,188 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of avis vs avons
Shared letters: asv. Private to "avis": i. Private to "avons": no.
"avis" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "avons" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "avis" and "avons" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "avis" or "avons" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "avis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "avons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #439,188 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "avis" and "avons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aves vs avis". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #439,188 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.