voléevsvolteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,055
“volée” frequency rank
#27,292
“volte” frequency rank
35347
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature volée volte
Definition Action de voler, vol, envol, en parlant des oiseaux et de certains animaux comme les insectes. Danse à trois temps d’origine provençale.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
volée
5 ch
volte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. volée (\vɔ.le\) and volte (\vɔlt\) 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 - é in “volée” becomes t in “volte”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35347, 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\. volte is at rank #27,292, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vɔlt\.

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 35347, this pair ranks #277,351 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of volée vs volte

Shared letters: elov. Private to "volée": é. Private to "volte": t.

"volée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "volte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • volteovlte · vlote · vollte · voltte · votle · vvolte

Frequency comparison

volée#8,055
volte#27,292

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "volée" and "volte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\vɔ.le\ versus \vɔlt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "volée" or "volte"?
"volée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,055 in our French list, against #27,292 for "volte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering volée vs volte

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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list