volévsvontWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,632
“volé” frequency rank
#357
“vont” frequency rank
4989
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature volé vont
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier de voler. Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de aller.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set volé and vont apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
volé
4 ch
vont

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. volé (\vɔ.le\) and vont (\vɔ̃\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4989, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

volé is recorded at frequency rank #4,632, classified as averb, pronounced \vɔ.le\. vont is at rank #357, tagged as averb, pronounced \vɔ̃\.

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 4989, this pair ranks #430,195 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of volé vs vont

Shared letters: ov. Private to "volé": . Private to "vont": nt.

"volé" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "vont" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vontovnt · vnot · vonnt · vontt · votn · vvont

Frequency comparison

volé#4,632
vont#357

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "volé" and "vont" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\vɔ.le\ versus \vɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "volé" or "vont"?
"vont" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #357 in our French list, against #4,632 for "volé". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering volé vs vont

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 “volé” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list