Which to use
“off” is an adjective and “oui” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,054
- “off” frequency rank
- #132
- “oui” frequency rank
- 5186
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | off | oui |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hors antenne ; non diffusé. | 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. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set off and oui apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
off and oui form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5186, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
off is recorded at frequency rank #5,054, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɔf\. oui is at rank #132, tagged as anadv, pronounced \wi\.
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 5186, this pair ranks #429,690 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "off" and "oui" be used interchangeably?
Remembering off vs oui
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “off”; for an adverb, it's “oui”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “off” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable