voilevsvoiléesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: voile is a noun, voilées is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“voile” is a noun and “voilées” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,653
“voile” frequency rank
#18,366
“voilées” frequency rank
21019
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature voile voilées
Definition Large pièce de tissu assurant la propulsion des navires ou des moulins, par la force du vent. Féminin pluriel de voilé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set voile and voilées apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
voile
7 ch
voilées

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: voile is \vwal\ while voilées is \vwa.le\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 21019, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

voile is recorded at frequency rank #2,653, classified as anoun, pronounced \vwal\. voilées is at rank #18,366, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vwa.le\.

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 21019, this pair ranks #365,271 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of voile vs voilées

Shared letters: eilov. Private to "voile": -. Private to "voilées": .

"voile" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "voilées" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • voileovile · voiel · voille · volie · vvoile

Frequency comparison

voile#2,653
voilées#18,366

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "voile" and "voilées" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "voile" is a noun and "voilées" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "voile" or "voilées"?
"voile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,653 in our French list, against #18,366 for "voilées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering voile vs voilées

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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