Which to use
“valait” and “valoir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,386
- “valait” frequency rank
- #5,304
- “valoir” frequency rank
- 12690
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | valait | valoir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de valoir. | Être d’un certain prix ; avoir un certain mérite. |
Where the eye mixes valait and valoir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between valait and valoir
A purely visual mix-up. valait (\va.lɛ\) and valoir (\va.lwaʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12690, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
valait is recorded at frequency rank #7,386, classified as averb, pronounced \va.lɛ\. valoir is at rank #5,304, tagged as averb, pronounced \va.lwaʁ\.
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 12690, this pair ranks #404,198 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of valait vs valoir
Shared letters: ailv. Private to "valait": t. Private to "valoir": or.
"valait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "valoir" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "valait" for "valoir" ever safe?
Frequency check: "valait" vs "valoir" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "valait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "valoir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #404,198 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "valait" and "valoir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "valoir 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 #404,198 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.