Which to use
“vans” and “vis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,229
- “vans” frequency rank
- #993
- “vis” frequency rank
- 33222
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vans | vis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de van. | Pièce mécanique formée d’un corps qui comporte un filet de forme hélicoïdale et une tête où une empreinte permet d’appliquer un couple ; il en résulte un double mouvement de rotation et de translation. En mécanique, elles sont souvent employées avec des écrous pour former des boulons. |
Where the eye mixes vans and vis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: vans vs vis
A purely visual mix-up. vans (\vɑ̃\) and vis (\vis\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33222, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vans is recorded at frequency rank #32,229, classified as anoun, pronounced \vɑ̃\. vis is at rank #993, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vis\.
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 33222, this pair ranks #292,072 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vans vs vis
Shared letters: sv. Private to "vans": an. Private to "vis": i.
"vans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "vis" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- vans ← avns · vanns · vanss · vasn · vnas · vvans
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vans" and "vis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "vans" or "vis" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "vans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #292,072 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vans" and "vis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vans vs vlan". 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 #292,072 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.