valevsvaluesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“vale” and “values” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,710
“vale” frequency rank
#2,186
“values” frequency rank
14896
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vale values
Definition A valley. plural of value

Where the eye mixes vale and values

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
vale
6 ch
values

Look-alike desk: vale vs values

A purely visual mix-up. vale (/veɪl/) and values (/ˈvæljuːz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14896, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vale is recorded at frequency rank #12,710, classified as anoun, pronounced /veɪl/. values is at rank #2,186, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈvæljuːz/.

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 14896, this pair ranks #467,304 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vale vs values

Shared letters: aelv. Private to "vale": -. Private to "values": su.

"vale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "values" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • valeavle · vael · vlae · vvale
  • valuesavlues · valeus · vallues · valuess · valuse · vaules · vlaues · vvalues

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vale" and "values" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/veɪl/ versus /ˈvæljuːz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vale" or "values"?
"values" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,186 in our English list, against #12,710 for "vale". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "values" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #467,304 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vale" and "values" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vaca vs vale". 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 #467,304 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list