vorvsvoueWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#46,525
“vor” frequency rank
#28,020
“voue” frequency rank
74545
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vor voue
Definition Avant, exprime un mouvement spatial. Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de vouer.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
vor
4 ch
voue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vor is \foːɐ̯\ while voue is \vu\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74545, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vor is recorded at frequency rank #46,525, classified as anadv, pronounced \foːɐ̯\. voue is at rank #28,020, tagged as averb, 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 74545, this pair ranks #36,808 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of vor vs voue

Shared letters: ov. Private to "vor": r. Private to "voue": eu.

"vor" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "voue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • voueovue · voeu · vuoe · vvoue

Frequency comparison

vor#46,525
voue#28,020

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vor" and "voue" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vor" is an adverb and "voue" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vor" or "voue"?
"voue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,020 in our French list, against #46,525 for "vor". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vor vs voue

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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