voilàvsvolsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: voilà is a verb, vols is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#458
“voilà” frequency rank
#4,539
“vols” frequency rank
4997
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature voilà vols
Definition Utilisé pour désigner une personne, une chose ou une action, ou pour y faire référence. Pluriel de vol (déplacement dans l’air).

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
voilà
4 ch
vols

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: voilà is \vwa.la\ while vols is \vɔl\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4997, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

voilà is recorded at frequency rank #458, classified as averb, pronounced \vwa.la\. vols is at rank #4,539, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vɔl\.

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 4997, this pair ranks #430,172 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of voilà vs vols

Shared letters: lov. Private to "voilà": . Private to "vols": s.

"voilà" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "vols" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • volsovls · vlos · volls · volss · vosl · vvols

Frequency comparison

voilà#458
vols#4,539

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "voilà" and "vols" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "voilà" is a verb and "vols" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "voilà" or "vols"?
"voilà" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #458 in our French list, against #4,539 for "vols". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering voilà vs vols

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “voilà”; for a noun, it's “vols”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “voilà” 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