Which to use
“virgule” is a noun and “virile” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,308
- “virgule” frequency rank
- #34,357
- “virile” frequency rank
- 51665
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | virgule | virile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Signe de ponctuation divisant certaines propositions dans une phrase, indiquant une pause : ‹ , ›. | Féminin singulier de viril. |
Where the eye mixes virgule and virile
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: virgule vs virile
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: virgule is \viʁ.ɡyl\ while virile is \vi.ʁil\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51665, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
virgule is recorded at frequency rank #17,308, classified as anoun, pronounced \viʁ.ɡyl\. virile is at rank #34,357, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vi.ʁil\.
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 51665, this pair ranks #153,328 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of virgule vs virile
Shared letters: eilrv. Private to "virgule": gu. Private to "virile": -.
"virgule" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "virile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "virgule" for "virile" ever safe?
Frequency check: "virgule" vs "virile" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "virgule" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "virile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #153,328 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "virgule" and "virile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vigie vs virile". 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 #153,328 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.