vouivsvoyWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#45,950
“voui” frequency rank
#48,860
“voy” frequency rank
94810
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature voui voy
Definition Oui. Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif du verbe irrégulier ir (« aller »).

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
voui
3 ch
voy

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: voui is \vwi\ while voy is \ˈboj\. 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 94810, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

voui is recorded at frequency rank #45,950, classified as anadv, pronounced \vwi\. voy is at rank #48,860, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈboj\.

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 94810, this pair ranks #1,401 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of voui vs voy

Shared letters: ov. Private to "voui": iu. Private to "voy": y.

"voui" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "voy" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vouiovui · voiu · vuoi · vvoui

Frequency comparison

voui#45,950
voy#48,860

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "voui" and "voy" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "voui" is an adverb and "voy" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "voui" or "voy"?
"voui" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #45,950 in our French list, against #48,860 for "voy". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering voui vs voy

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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