voeuxvsvouiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: voeux is a typographic variant, voui is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“voeux” is a typographic variant and “voui” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,969
“voeux” frequency rank
#45,950
“voui” frequency rank
56919
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature voeux voui
Definition Orthographe par contrainte typographique de vœux. Oui.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
voeux
4 ch
voui

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

voeux and voui form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56919, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

voeux is recorded at frequency rank #10,969, classified as atypographic variant, pronounced [vø]. voui is at rank #45,950, tagged as anadv, pronounced \vwi\.

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 56919, this pair ranks #118,141 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

voeux#10,969
voui#45,950

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "voeux" and "voui" be used interchangeably?
No, "voeux" and "voui" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering voeux vs voui

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a typographic variant, it's “voeux”; for an adverb, it's “voui”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “voeux” 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