valezvsvaluWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,199
“valez” frequency rank
#10,256
“valu” frequency rank
46455
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature valez valu
Definition Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de valoir. Participe passé masculin singulier de valoir.

Where the eye mixes valez and valu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
valez
4 ch
valu

Look-alike desk: valez vs valu

A purely visual mix-up. valez (\va.le\) and valu (\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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

valez is recorded at frequency rank #36,199, classified as averb, pronounced \va.le\. valu is at rank #10,256, 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 46455, this pair ranks #194,805 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of valez vs valu

Shared letters: alv. Private to "valez": ez. Private to "valu": u.

"valez" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "valu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • valezavlez · vaelz · valezz · vallez · valze · vlaez · vvalez
  • valuavlu · vallu · vaul · vlau · vvalu

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "valez" and "valu" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\va.le\ versus \va.ly\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "valez" or "valu"?
"valu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,256 in our French list, against #36,199 for "valez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "valez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "valu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #194,805 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "valez" and "valu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "valez vs visez". 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 #194,805 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