Which to use
“vaille” and “vale” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,883
- “vaille” frequency rank
- #27,280
- “vale” frequency rank
- 48163
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vaille | vale |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de valoir. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de valer. |
Where the eye mixes vaille and vale
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses vaille with vale
A purely visual mix-up. vaille (\vaj\) and vale (\val\) 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 48163, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vaille is recorded at frequency rank #20,883, classified as averb, pronounced \vaj\. vale is at rank #27,280, tagged as averb, pronounced \val\.
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 48163, this pair ranks #181,134 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vaille vs vale
Shared letters: aelv. Private to "vaille": i. Private to "vale": -.
"vaille" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "vale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vaille" and "vale" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "vaille" vs "vale" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vaille" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vale" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #181,134 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vaille" and "vale" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vale vs vial". 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 #181,134 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.