envolvsenvoléeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“envol” and “envolée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,871
“envol” frequency rank
#24,208
“envolée” frequency rank
41079
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature envol envolée
Definition Action de s’envoler. Action de s’envoler.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set envol and envolée apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
envol
7 ch
envolée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. envol (\ɑ̃.vɔl\) and envolée (\ɑ̃.vɔ.le\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “envol” sits inside “envolée”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41079, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

envol is recorded at frequency rank #16,871, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.vɔl\. envolée is at rank #24,208, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.vɔ.le\.

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 41079, this pair ranks #235,682 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of envol vs envolée

Shared letters: elnov. Private to "envol": -. Private to "envolée": é.

"envol" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC  ·  "envolée" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • envolennvol · enovl · envlo · envoll · envvol · evnol · nevol

Frequency comparison

envol#16,871
envolée#24,208

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "envol" and "envolée" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɑ̃.vɔl\ versus \ɑ̃.vɔ.le\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "envol" or "envolée"?
"envol" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,871 in our French list, against #24,208 for "envolée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering envol vs envolée

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list