vsviceWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“vé” and “vice” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#44,807
“vé” frequency rank
#1,614
“vice” frequency rank
46421
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vice
Definition Lettre latine V, v. Défaut, imperfection grave qui rend une chose plus ou moins impropre à sa destination.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set and vice apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

2 ch
vé
4 ch
vice

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. (\ve\) and vice (\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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

is recorded at frequency rank #44,807, classified as anoun, pronounced \ve\. vice is at rank #1,614, 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 46421, this pair ranks #195,076 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vé vs vice

Shared letters: v. Private to "vé": é. Private to "vice": cei.

"vé" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "vice" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • viceivce · vcie · vicce · viec · vvice

Frequency comparison

#44,807
vice#1,614

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vé" and "vice" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ve\ versus \vis\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vé" or "vice"?
"vice" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,614 in our French list, against #44,807 for "vé". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering vé vs vice

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vé” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list