Which to use
“vigie” and “ville” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,094
- “vigie” frequency rank
- #182
- “ville” frequency rank
- 38276
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vigie | ville |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sentinelle, marin qui surveille les alentours. | Assemblage ordonné d'un nombre assez considérable de maisons disposées par rues, et limitées parfois par une enceinte. |
Where the eye mixes vigie and ville
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. vigie (CVCVV) and ville (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses vigie with ville
A purely visual mix-up. vigie (\vi.ʒi\) and ville (\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 38276, 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\. ville is at rank #182, tagged as anoun, 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 38276, this pair ranks #256,411 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vigie vs ville
Shared letters: eiv. Private to "vigie": g. Private to "ville": l.
"vigie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "ville" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vigie" for "ville" ever safe?
Frequency check: "vigie" vs "ville" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vigie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ville" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #256,411 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vigie" and "ville" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vigan vs vigie". 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 #256,411 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.