Which to use
“vies” and “voie” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,049
- “vies” frequency rank
- #781
- “voie” frequency rank
- 3830
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vies | voie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de vie. | Partie de la chaussée dédiée et suffisante pour permettre le déroulement d’une file d’automobiles autres que des motocycles. |
Where the eye mixes vies and voie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. vies (CVVC) and voie (CVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: vies vs voie
A purely visual mix-up. vies (\vi\) and voie (\vwa\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3830, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vies is recorded at frequency rank #3,049, classified as anoun, pronounced \vi\. voie is at rank #781, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vwa\.
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 3830, this pair ranks #433,116 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vies vs voie
Shared letters: eiv. Private to "vies": s. Private to "voie": o.
"vies" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "voie" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vies" for "voie" ever safe?
Frequency check: "vies" vs "voie" - which ranks higher?
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 "vies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "voie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #433,116 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vies" and "voie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vies vs viv". 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 #433,116 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.