vigilevsvigilesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,888
“vigile” frequency rank
#29,593
“vigiles” frequency rank
50481
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vigile vigiles
Definition 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). Pluriel de vigile.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vigile and vigiles apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
vigile
7 ch
vigiles

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. vigile and vigiles are pronounced identically (\vi.ʒil\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “vigile” sits inside “vigiles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50481, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vigile is recorded at frequency rank #20,888, classified as anoun, pronounced \vi.ʒil\. vigiles is at rank #29,593, 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 50481, this pair ranks #162,283 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vigile vs vigiles

Shared letters: egilv. Private to "vigile": -. Private to "vigiles": s.

"vigile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "vigiles" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vigileivgile · vgiile · viggile · vigiel · vigille · viglie · viigle · vvigile
  • vigilesivgiles · vgiiles · viggiles · vigiels · vigiless · vigilles · vigilse · viglies

Frequency comparison

vigile#20,888
vigiles#29,593

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vigile" and "vigiles" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\vi.ʒil\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "vigile" or "vigiles"?
"vigile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,888 in our French list, against #29,593 for "vigiles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vigile vs vigiles

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 “vigile” 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