Which to use
“volait” and “voyait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,595
- “volait” frequency rank
- #4,634
- “voyait” frequency rank
- 34229
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | volait | voyait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de voler. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de voir. |
Where the eye mixes volait and voyait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. volait (CVCVVC) and voyait (CVVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: volait vs voyait
A purely visual mix-up. volait (\vɔ.lɛ\) and voyait (\vwa.jɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - l in “volait” becomes y in “voyait”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
volait is recorded at frequency rank #29,595, classified as averb, pronounced \vɔ.lɛ\. voyait is at rank #4,634, tagged as averb, pronounced \vwa.jɛ\.
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 34229, this pair ranks #285,269 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of volait vs voyait
Shared letters: aiotv. Private to "volait": l. Private to "voyait": y.
"volait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "voyait" · 6 letters · shape CVVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "volait" and "voyait" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "volait" vs "voyait" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "volait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "voyait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #285,269 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "volait" and "voyait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "violait vs volait". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #285,269 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.