Which to use
“vols” is a noun and “vous” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,539
- “vols” frequency rank
- #37
- “vous” frequency rank
- 4576
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vols | vous |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de vol (déplacement dans l’air). | Pronom clitique ou tonique de la deuxième personne du pluriel sujet, lorsque l’interlocuteur s’adresse à plusieurs autres personnes. |
Where the eye mixes vols and vous
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses vols with vous
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vols is \vɔl\ while vous is \vu\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “vols” becomes u in “vous”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4576, 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\. vous is at rank #37, tagged as apron, pronounced \vu\.
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 4576, this pair ranks #431,254 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vols vs vous
Shared letters: osv. Private to "vols": l. Private to "vous": u.
"vols" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "vous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vols" and "vous" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "vols" vs "vous" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "vols" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vous" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,254 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vols" and "vous" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vols vs voy". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #431,254 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.