Which to use
“valable” and “viable” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,201
- “valable” frequency rank
- #14,820
- “viable” frequency rank
- 20021
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | valable | viable |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est acceptable, bien fondé. | Qui est apte à vivre. |
Where the eye mixes valable and viable
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: valable vs viable
A purely visual mix-up. valable (\va.labl\) and viable (\vjabl\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20021, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
valable is recorded at frequency rank #5,201, classified as anadj, pronounced \va.labl\. viable is at rank #14,820, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vjabl\.
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 20021, this pair ranks #370,332 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of valable vs viable
Shared letters: abelv. Private to "valable": -. Private to "viable": i.
"valable" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "viable" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "valable" and "viable" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "valable" vs "viable" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "valable" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "viable" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #370,332 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "valable" and "viable" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "viable 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 #370,332 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.