vivvsvoyWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“viv” and “voy” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#49,426
“viv” frequency rank
#48,860
“voy” frequency rank
98286
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature viv voy
Definition Vivre. Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif du verbe irrégulier ir (« aller »).

Where the eye mixes viv and voy

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. viv (CVC) and voy (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
viv
3 ch
voy

Look-alike desk: viv vs voy

A purely visual mix-up. viv (\viv\) and voy (\ˈboj\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 98286, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

viv is recorded at frequency rank #49,426, classified as averb, pronounced \viv\. voy is at rank #48,860, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈboj\.

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 98286, this pair ranks #154 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of viv vs voy

Shared letters: v. Private to "viv": i. Private to "voy": oy.

"viv" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "voy" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "viv" and "voy" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\viv\ versus \ˈboj\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "viv" vs "voy" - which ranks higher?
"voy" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #48,860 in our French list, against #49,426 for "viv". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "viv" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "voy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #154 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "viv" and "voy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vial vs viv". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #154 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list