Which to use
“vils” is an adjective and “vola” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,805
- “vils” frequency rank
- #45,375
- “vola” frequency rank
- 90180
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vils | vola |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de vil. | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple du verbe voler. |
Where the eye mixes vils and vola
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. vils (CVCC) and vola (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses vils with vola
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vils is \vil\ while vola is \vɔ.la\. 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 90180, 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\. vola is at rank #45,375, tagged as averb, pronounced \vɔ.la\.
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 90180, this pair ranks #5,058 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of vils vs vola
Shared letters: lv. Private to "vils": is. Private to "vola": ao.
"vils" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "vola" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vils" for "vola" ever safe?
Which is more common, "vils" or "vola"?
Useful next steps
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 "vola" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #5,058 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vils" and "vola" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vlan vs vola". 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 #5,058 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.