volesvsvoletWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,652
“voles” frequency rank
#6,256
“volet” frequency rank
42908
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature voles volet
Definition Pluriel de vole. Tablette utilisée pour trier les petits objets, comme les grains, les cailloux, etc.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
voles
5 ch
volet

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. voles (\vɔl\) and volet (\vɔ.lɛ\) 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 - s in “voles” becomes t in “volet”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42908, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

voles is recorded at frequency rank #36,652, classified as anoun, pronounced \vɔl\. volet is at rank #6,256, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vɔ.lɛ\.

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 42908, this pair ranks #221,996 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of voles vs volet

Shared letters: elov. Private to "voles": s. Private to "volet": t.

"voles" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "volet" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • volesovles · vloes · voels · voless · volles · volse · vvoles
  • voletovlet · vloet · voelt · volett · vollet · vvolet

Frequency comparison

voles#36,652
volet#6,256

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "voles" and "volet" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\vɔl\ versus \vɔ.lɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "voles" or "volet"?
"volet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,256 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 voles vs volet

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 “voles” 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