valevsvasTell them apart

Quick tell: vale is a noun, vas is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vale” is a noun and “vas” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#638
“vale” frequency rank
#323
“vas” frequency rank
961
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vale vas
Definition Documento de pago o sustitución de algo. Segunda persona del singular (tú, vos) del presente de indicativo de ir o de irse.

Where the eye mixes vale and vas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
vale
3 ch
vas

Why the eye confuses vale with vas

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vale is [ˈbale] while vas is [ˈbas]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 961, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vale is recorded at frequency rank #638, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbale]. vas is at rank #323, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈbas].

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 961, this pair ranks #322,755 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vale vs vas

Shared letters: av. Private to "vale": el. Private to "vas": s.

"vale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "vas" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • valeavle · bale · vael · vlae · vvale

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vale" and "vas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vale" is a noun and "vas" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "vale" vs "vas" - which ranks higher?
"vas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #323 in our Spanish list, against #638 for "vale". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #322,755 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vale" and "vas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vas vs VOR". 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 #322,755 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list