Which to use
“ont” is a verb and “oui” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #61
- “ont” frequency rank
- #132
- “oui” frequency rank
- 193
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ont | oui |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe avoir. | 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 eye mixes ont and oui
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between ont and oui
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ont is \ɔ̃\ while oui is \wi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 193, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ont is recorded at frequency rank #61, classified as averb, pronounced \ɔ̃\. 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 193, this pair ranks #439,989 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ont vs oui
Shared letters: o. Private to "ont": nt. Private to "oui": iu.
"ont" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "oui" · 3 letters · shape VVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ont" and "oui" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "ont" or "oui" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ont" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "oui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #439,989 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ont" and "oui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "och vs oui". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #439,989 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.