voléevsvolesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,055
“volée” frequency rank
#36,652
“voles” frequency rank
44707
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature volée voles
Definition Action de voler, vol, envol, en parlant des oiseaux et de certains animaux comme les insectes. Pluriel de vole.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set volée and voles apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
volée
5 ch
voles

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. volée (\vɔ.le\) and voles (\vɔl\) 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 44707, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

volée is recorded at frequency rank #8,055, classified as anoun, pronounced \vɔ.le\. voles is at rank #36,652, 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 44707, this pair ranks #208,438 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of volée vs voles

Shared letters: elov. Private to "volée": é. Private to "voles": s.

"volée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "voles" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • volesovles · vloes · voels · voless · volles · volse · vvoles

Frequency comparison

volée#8,055
voles#36,652

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "volée" and "voles" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\vɔ.le\ versus \vɔl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "volée" or "voles"?
"volée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,055 in our French list, against #36,652 for "voles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering volée vs voles

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 “volée” 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