Which to use
“valais” is a verb and “vilains” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,707
- “valais” frequency rank
- #20,017
- “vilains” frequency rank
- 39724
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | valais | vilains |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’imparfait de valoir. | Masculin pluriel de vilain. |
Where the eye mixes valais and vilains
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. valais runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against vilains's 7 (CVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: valais vs vilains
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: valais is \va.lɛ\ while vilains is \vi.lɛ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39724, 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\. vilains is at rank #20,017, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vi.lɛ̃\.
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 39724, this pair ranks #245,852 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of valais vs vilains
Shared letters: ailsv. Private to "valais": -. Private to "vilains": n.
"valais" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "vilains" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "valais" and "vilains" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "valais" or "vilains" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "valais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vilains" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #245,852 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "valais" and "vilains" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "valais vs Varois". 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 #245,852 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.