valevsvaluesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#27,280
“vale” frequency rank
#18,903
“values” frequency rank
46183
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vale values
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de valer. Participe passé féminin pluriel de valoir.

Where the eye mixes vale and values

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
vale
6 ch
values

Look-alike desk: vale vs values

A purely visual mix-up. vale (\val\) and values (\va.ly\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46183, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vale is recorded at frequency rank #27,280, classified as averb, pronounced \val\. values is at rank #18,903, tagged as averb, pronounced \va.ly\.

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 46183, this pair ranks #196,944 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vale vs values

Shared letters: aelv. Private to "vale": -. Private to "values": su.

"vale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "values" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • valeavle · vael · vlae · vvale
  • valuesavlues · valeus · vallues · valuess · valuse · vaules · vlaues · vvalues

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vale" and "values" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\val\ versus \va.ly\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "vale" or "values"?
"values" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,903 in our French list, against #27,280 for "vale". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "vale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "values" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #196,944 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vale" and "values" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vale 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 #196,944 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