Which to use
“valeurs” and “vapeurs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,127
- “valeurs” frequency rank
- #22,130
- “vapeurs” frequency rank
- 23257
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | valeurs | vapeurs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de valeur. | Pluriel de vapeur. |
Where the eye mixes valeurs and vapeurs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. valeurs and vapeurs follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses valeurs with vapeurs
A purely visual mix-up. valeurs (\va.lœʁ\) and vapeurs (\va.pœʁ\) 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 a single letter - l in “valeurs” becomes p in “vapeurs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
valeurs is recorded at frequency rank #1,127, classified as anoun, pronounced \va.lœʁ\. vapeurs is at rank #22,130, tagged as anoun, pronounced \va.pœʁ\.
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 23257, this pair ranks #353,531 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of valeurs vs vapeurs
Shared letters: aersuv. Private to "valeurs": l. Private to "vapeurs": p.
"valeurs" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC · "vapeurs" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "valeurs" and "vapeurs" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "valeurs" or "vapeurs"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "valeurs" and "vapeurs" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "valeurs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vapeurs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #353,531 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "valeurs" and "vapeurs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "valets vs valeurs". 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 #353,531 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.