vigievsvigileWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,094
“vigie” frequency rank
#20,888
“vigile” frequency rank
58982
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vigie vigile
Definition Sentinelle, marin qui surveille les alentours. Personne (homme ou femme) chargée d’une fonction de surveillance, de sécurité, le plus souvent dans des locaux commerciaux, industriels (pour une femme, on dira aussi femme vigile).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vigie and vigile apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
vigie
6 ch
vigile

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. vigie (\vi.ʒi\) and vigile (\vi.ʒil\) 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 58982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vigie is recorded at frequency rank #38,094, classified as anoun, pronounced \vi.ʒi\. vigile is at rank #20,888, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vi.ʒil\.

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 58982, this pair ranks #105,774 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of vigie vs vigile

Shared letters: egiv. Private to "vigie": -. Private to "vigile": l.

"vigie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "vigile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vigieivgie · vgiie · vigei · viggie · viige · vvigie
  • vigileivgile · vgiile · viggile · vigiel · vigille · viglie · viigle · vvigile

Frequency comparison

vigie#38,094
vigile#20,888

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vigie" and "vigile" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\vi.ʒi\ versus \vi.ʒil\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vigie" or "vigile"?
"vigile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,888 in our French list, against #38,094 for "vigie". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vigie vs vigile

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 “vigie” 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