valervsvalióWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“valer” and “valió” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,194
“valer” frequency rank
#8,734
“valió” frequency rank
16928
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature valer valió
Definition Tener un precio para la venta o compra. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de valer o de valerse.

Where the eye mixes valer and valió

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
valer
5 ch
valió

Visual trap between valer and valió

A purely visual mix-up. valer ([baˈleɾ]) and valió ([baˈljo]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16928, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

valer is recorded at frequency rank #8,194, classified as averb, pronounced [baˈleɾ]. valió is at rank #8,734, tagged as averb, pronounced [baˈljo].

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 16928, this pair ranks #274,217 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of valer vs valió

Shared letters: alv. Private to "valer": er. Private to "valió": .

"valer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "valió" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • valeravler · baler · vaelr · valerr · valler · valre · vlaer · vvaler

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "valer" and "valió" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([baˈleɾ] versus [baˈljo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "valer" or "valió" show up more?
"valer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,194 in our Spanish list, against #8,734 for "valió". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "valer" and "valió" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "valer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "valió" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #274,217 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "valer" and "valió" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "valió vs vasito". 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 #274,217 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