valaitvsvoyaitConfusable pair

Which to use

“valait” and “voyait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,386
“valait” frequency rank
#4,634
“voyait” frequency rank
12020
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature valait voyait
Definition Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de valoir. Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de voir.

Where the eye mixes valait and voyait

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. valait (CVCVVC) and voyait (CVVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
valait
6 ch
voyait

Why the eye confuses valait with voyait

A purely visual mix-up. valait (\va.lɛ\) and voyait (\vwa.jɛ\) 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 12020, 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\. voyait is at rank #4,634, tagged as averb, pronounced \vwa.jɛ\.

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 12020, this pair ranks #406,888 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of valait vs voyait

Shared letters: aitv. Private to "valait": l. Private to "voyait": oy.

"valait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "voyait" · 6 letters · shape CVVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • valait ← avlait · vaalit · valaitt · valati · valiat · vallait · vlaait · vvalait
  • voyait ← ovyait · voayit · voyaitt · voyati · voyiat · voyyait · vvoyait · vyoait

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "valait" and "voyait" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\va.lɛ\ versus \vwa.jɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "valait" or "voyait"?
"voyait" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,634 in our French list, against #7,386 for "valait". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "valait" and "voyait" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "valait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "voyait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #406,888 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "valait" and "voyait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "valait vs violait". 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 #406,888 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list