volsvsvouiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: vols is a noun, voui is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vols” is a noun and “voui” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,539
“vols” frequency rank
#45,950
“voui” frequency rank
50489
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vols voui
Definition Pluriel de vol (déplacement dans l’air). Oui.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
vols
4 ch
voui

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vols is \vɔl\ while voui is \vwi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50489, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vols is recorded at frequency rank #4,539, classified as anoun, pronounced \vɔl\. voui is at rank #45,950, tagged as anadv, pronounced \vwi\.

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 50489, this pair ranks #162,221 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vols vs voui

Shared letters: ov. Private to "vols": ls. Private to "voui": iu.

"vols" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "voui" · 4 letters · shape CVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • volsovls · vlos · volls · volss · vosl · vvols
  • vouiovui · voiu · vuoi · vvoui

Frequency comparison

vols#4,539
voui#45,950

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vols" and "voui" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vols" is a noun and "voui" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vols" or "voui"?
"vols" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,539 in our French list, against #45,950 for "voui". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering vols vs voui

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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