vilsvsvinsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: vils is a adjective, vins is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vils” is an adjective and “vins” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#44,805
“vils” frequency rank
#3,370
“vins” frequency rank
48175
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vils vins
Definition Masculin pluriel de vil. Pluriel de vin.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vils and vins apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
vils
4 ch
vins

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vils is \vil\ while vins is \vɛ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “vils” becomes n in “vins”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48175, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vils is recorded at frequency rank #44,805, classified as anadj, pronounced \vil\. vins is at rank #3,370, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vɛ̃\.

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 48175, this pair ranks #181,033 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vils vs vins

Shared letters: isv. Private to "vils": l. Private to "vins": n.

"vils" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "vins" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vilsivls · vills · vilss · visl · vlis · vvils
  • vinsivns · vinns · vinss · visn · vnis · vvins

Frequency comparison

vils#44,805
vins#3,370

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vils" and "vins" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vils" is an adjective and "vins" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vils" or "vins"?
"vins" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,370 in our French list, against #44,805 for "vils". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering vils vs vins

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “vils”; for a noun, it's “vins”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “vils” 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