valaisvsvaliseWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#19,707
“valais” frequency rank
#6,907
“valise” frequency rank
26614
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature valais valise
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’imparfait de valoir. Petite malle de voyage, qu’on porte à la main.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set valais and valise apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
valais
6 ch
valise

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: valais is \va.lɛ\ while valise is \va.liz\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26614, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

valais is recorded at frequency rank #19,707, classified as averb, pronounced \va.lɛ\. valise is at rank #6,907, tagged as anoun, pronounced \va.liz\.

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 26614, this pair ranks #333,887 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of valais vs valise

Shared letters: ailsv. Private to "valais": -. Private to "valise": e.

"valais" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "valise" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • valaisavlais · vaalis · valaiss · valasi · valias · vallais · vlaais · vvalais
  • valiseavlise · vailse · valies · valisse · vallise · valsie · vlaise · vvalise

Frequency comparison

valais#19,707
valise#6,907

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "valais" and "valise" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "valais" is a verb and "valise" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "valais" or "valise"?
"valise" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,907 in our French list, against #19,707 for "valais". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering valais vs valise

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “valais”; for a noun, it's “valise”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “valais” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list