volervsvorWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: voler is a verb, vor is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“voler” is a verb and “vor” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,115
“voler” frequency rank
#46,525
“vor” frequency rank
49640
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature voler vor
Definition Se maintenir dans les airs en battant des ailes. Avant, exprime un mouvement spatial.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set voler and vor apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
voler
3 ch
vor

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: voler is \vɔ.le\ while vor is \foːɐ̯\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49640, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

voler is recorded at frequency rank #3,115, classified as averb, pronounced \vɔ.le\. vor is at rank #46,525, tagged as anadv, pronounced \foːɐ̯\.

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 49640, this pair ranks #169,006 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of voler vs vor

Shared letters: orv. Private to "voler": el. Private to "vor": -.

"voler" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "vor" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • volerovler · vloer · voelr · volerr · voller · volre · vvoler

Frequency comparison

voler#3,115
vor#46,525

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "voler" and "vor" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "voler" is a verb and "vor" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "voler" or "vor"?
"voler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,115 in our French list, against #46,525 for "vor". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering voler vs vor

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “voler”; for an adverb, it's “vor”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “voler” 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