Which to use
“vai” is a conjunction and “voy” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #45,367
- “vai” frequency rank
- #48,860
- “voy” frequency rank
- 94227
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vai | voy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ou, ou bien. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif du verbe irrégulier ir (« aller »). |
Where the eye mixes vai and voy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. vai and voy follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses vai with voy
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vai is \ʋɑi̯\ while voy is \ˈboj\. 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 (conjunction vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 94227, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vai is recorded at frequency rank #45,367, classified as aconj, pronounced \ʋɑi̯\. voy is at rank #48,860, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈboj\.
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 94227, this pair ranks #1,772 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of vai vs voy
Shared letters: v. Private to "vai": ai. Private to "voy": oy.
"vai" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "voy" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vai" for "voy" ever safe?
Which is more common, "vai" or "voy"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "voy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,772 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vai" and "voy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "viv vs voy". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,772 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.