vouivsvusWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#45,950
“voui” frequency rank
#5,090
“vus” frequency rank
51040
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature voui vus
Definition Oui. Participe passé masculin pluriel de voir.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
voui
3 ch
vus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: voui is \vwi\ while vus is \vy\. 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 51040, 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\. vus is at rank #5,090, tagged as averb, pronounced \vy\.

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 51040, this pair ranks #158,044 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of voui vs vus

Shared letters: uv. Private to "voui": io. Private to "vus": s.

"voui" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "vus" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vouiovui · voiu · vuoi · vvoui

Frequency comparison

voui#45,950
vus#5,090

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "voui" and "vus" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "voui" is an adverb and "vus" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "voui" or "vus"?
"vus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,090 in our French list, against #45,950 for "voui". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering voui vs vus

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 “vus”.
  • 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