Which to use
“vil” is an adjective and “vus” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,730
- “vil” frequency rank
- #5,090
- “vus” frequency rank
- 28820
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vil | vus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est bas, abject, méprisable. | Participe passé masculin pluriel de voir. |
Where the eye mixes vil and vus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses vil with vus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vil is \vil\ while vus is \vy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28820, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vil is recorded at frequency rank #23,730, classified as anadj, pronounced \vil\. vus is at rank #5,090, tagged as averb, pronounced \vy\.
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 28820, this pair ranks #320,490 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vil vs vus
Shared letters: v. Private to "vil": il. Private to "vus": su.
"vil" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "vus" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vil" and "vus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "vil" or "vus" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #320,490 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vil" and "vus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vil vs viv". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #320,490 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.