validésvsvariéesWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: validés is a verb, variées is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“validés” is a verb and “variées” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,010
“validés” frequency rank
#9,409
“variées” frequency rank
37419
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature validés variées
Definition Participe passé masculin pluriel du verbe valider. Féminin pluriel de varié.

Where the eye mixes validés and variées

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. validés (CVCVCVC) and variées (CVCVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
validés
7 ch
variées

Why the eye confuses validés with variées

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: validés is \va.li.de\ while variées is \va.ʁje\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37419, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

validés is recorded at frequency rank #28,010, classified as averb, pronounced \va.li.de\. variées is at rank #9,409, tagged as anadj, pronounced \va.ʁje\.

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 37419, this pair ranks #262,647 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of validés vs variées

Shared letters: aisvé. Private to "validés": dl. Private to "variées": er.

"validés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "variées" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "validés" and "variées" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "validés" is a verb and "variées" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "validés" vs "variées" - which ranks higher?
"variées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,409 in our French list, against #28,010 for "validés". 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 "validés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "variées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #262,647 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "validés" and "variées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "valident vs validés". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #262,647 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