voiléevsvoléesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,267
“voilée” frequency rank
#17,591
“volées” frequency rank
33858
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature voilée volées
Definition Féminin singulier de voilé. Féminin pluriel de volé.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
voilée
6 ch
volées

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. voilée (\vwa.le\) and volées (\vɔ.le\) 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 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33858, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

voilée is recorded at frequency rank #16,267, classified as anadj, pronounced \vwa.le\. volées is at rank #17,591, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vɔ.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 33858, this pair ranks #287,806 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of voilée vs volées

Shared letters: elové. Private to "voilée": i. Private to "volées": s.

"voilée" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV  ·  "volées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Frequency comparison

voilée#16,267
volées#17,591

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "voilée" and "volées" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\vwa.le\ versus \vɔ.le\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "voilée" or "volées"?
"voilée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,267 in our French list, against #17,591 for "volées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering voilée vs volées

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “voilée” 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