VénusvsvesConfusable pair

Quick tell: Vénus is a name, ves is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Vénus” is a name and “ves” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,807
“Vénus” frequency rank
#42,676
“ves” frequency rank
53483
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Vénus ves
Definition Déesse romaine de l’amour et de la beauté, équivalente à la grecque Aphrodite. Veuves.

Where the eye mixes Vénus and ves

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Vénus runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against ves's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Vénus
3 ch
ves

Why the eye confuses Vénus with ves

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Vénus is \ve.nys\ while ves is \vœv\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53483, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Vénus is recorded at frequency rank #10,807, classified as aname, pronounced \ve.nys\. ves is at rank #42,676, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vœv\.

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 53483, this pair ranks #140,409 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Vénus vs ves

Shared letters: sv. Private to "Vénus": nué. Private to "ves": e.

"Vénus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "ves" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Vénus" for "ves" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Vénus" is a name and "ves" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Vénus" vs "ves" - which ranks higher?
"Vénus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,807 in our French list, against #42,676 for "ves". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Vénus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ves" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #140,409 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Vénus" and "ves" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ves vs viv". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #140,409 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list