void vs voilà, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“void” is a noun and “voilà” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,683
“void” frequency rank: #458
“voilà” frequency rank: 43141
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	void	voilà
Definition	Fromage au lait de vache à pâte molle à croûte lavée de la Meuse.	Utilisé pour désigner une personne, une chose ou une action, ou pour y faire référence.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

void

5 ch

voilà

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: void is \vwa\ while voilà is \vwa.la\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43141, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

void is recorded at frequency rank #42,683, classified as anoun, pronounced \vwa\. voilà is at rank #458, tagged as averb, pronounced \vwa.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 43141, this pair ranks #220,313 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of void vs voilà

Shared letters: iov. Private to "void": d. Private to "voilà": là.

"void" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "voilà" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

void ← ovid · viod · vodi · voidd · vvoid

Frequency comparison

void#42,683

voilà#458

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "void" and "voilà" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "void" is a noun and "voilà" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "void" or "voilà"?

"voilà" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #458 in our French list, against #42,683 for "void". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering void vs voilà

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “void”; for a verb, it's “voilà”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “void” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable