Which to use
“valley” and “valleys” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,974
- “valley” frequency rank
- #12,347
- “valleys” frequency rank
- 14321
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | valley | valleys |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An elongated depression cast between hills or mountains, often with a river flowing through it. | plural of valley |
Where the eye mixes valley and valleys
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. valley runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against valleys's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between valley and valleys
A purely visual mix-up. valley (/ˈvæli/) and valleys (/ˈvæliz/) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “valley” sits inside “valleys”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14321, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
valley is recorded at frequency rank #1,974, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈvæli/. valleys is at rank #12,347, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈvæliz/.
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 14321, this pair ranks #470,750 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of valley vs valleys
Shared letters: aelvy. Private to "valley": -. Private to "valleys": s.
"valley" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "valleys" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "valley" and "valleys" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "valley" or "valleys" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "valley" and "valleys" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "valley" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "valleys" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #470,750 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "valley" and "valleys" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Valdes vs valleys". 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 #470,750 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.