Which to use
“val” is a noun and “vos” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,650
- “val” frequency rank
- #207
- “vos” frequency rank
- 3857
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | val | vos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vallée étroite, espace de terre resserré entre deux coteaux. | Qui sont à vous, qui vous appartiennent. Deuxième personne du pluriel. Plusieurs possesseurs et plusieurs objets, ou un seul possesseur (forme de politesse) et plusieurs objets. |
Where the eye mixes val and vos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses val with vos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: val is \val\ while vos is \vo\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3857, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
val is recorded at frequency rank #3,650, classified as anoun, pronounced \val\. vos is at rank #207, tagged as adet, pronounced \vo\.
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 3857, this pair ranks #433,033 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of val vs vos
Shared letters: v. Private to "val": al. Private to "vos": os.
"val" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "vos" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "val" for "vos" ever safe?
Frequency check: "val" vs "vos" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "val" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #433,033 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "val" and "vos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "val vs vlan". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #433,033 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.