Which to use
“vais” is a verb and “vin” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #219
- “vais” frequency rank
- #1,383
- “vin” frequency rank
- 1602
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vais | vin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de aller. | Boisson alcoolique obtenue par fermentation du jus de raisin et connue depuis plusieurs millénaires. |
Where the eye mixes vais and vin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: vais vs vin
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vais is \vɛ\ while vin is \vɛ̃\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vais is recorded at frequency rank #219, classified as averb, pronounced \vɛ\. vin is at rank #1,383, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vɛ̃\.
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 1602, this pair ranks #437,743 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vais vs vin
Shared letters: iv. Private to "vais": as. Private to "vin": n.
"vais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "vin" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- vais ← vaiss · vasi · vias · vvais
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "vais" and "vin" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "vais" vs "vin" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "vais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #437,743 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vais" and "vin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vigan vs vin". 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 #437,743 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.