veluvsvilsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#45,940
“velu” frequency rank
#44,805
“vils” frequency rank
90745
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature velu vils
Definition Qui est couvert de poils. Masculin pluriel de vil.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set velu and vils apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
velu
4 ch
vils

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. velu (\və.ly\) and vils (\vil\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 90745, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

velu is recorded at frequency rank #45,940, classified as anadj, pronounced \və.ly\. vils is at rank #44,805, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vil\.

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 90745, this pair ranks #4,500 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of velu vs vils

Shared letters: lv. Private to "velu": eu. Private to "vils": is.

"velu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "vils" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • veluevlu · vellu · veul · vleu · vvelu
  • vilsivls · vills · vilss · visl · vlis · vvils

Frequency comparison

velu#45,940
vils#44,805

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "velu" and "vils" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\və.ly\ versus \vil\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "velu" or "vils"?
"vils" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,805 in our French list, against #45,940 for "velu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering velu vs vils

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 “velu” 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