Which to use
“vils” is an adjective and “vol” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,805
- “vils” frequency rank
- #929
- “vol” frequency rank
- 45734
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vils | vol |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de vil. | Mouvement des oiseaux et de divers animaux, qui se soutiennent et avancent dans l’air au moyen de leurs ailes. |
Where the eye mixes vils and vol
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between vils and vol
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vils is \vil\ while vol is \vɔl\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45734, 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\. vol is at rank #929, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vɔl\.
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 45734, this pair ranks #200,433 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vils vs vol
Shared letters: lv. Private to "vils": is. Private to "vol": o.
"vils" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "vol" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- vils ← ivls · vills · vilss · visl · vlis · vvils
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vils" for "vol" ever safe?
Frequency check: "vils" vs "vol" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vils" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vol" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #200,433 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vils" and "vol" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vils vs viv". 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 #200,433 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.