vallevsvalléesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,200
“valle” frequency rank
#10,098
“vallées” frequency rank
46298
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature valle vallées
Definition Val, vallée, vallon. Pluriel de vallée.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set valle and vallées apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
valle
7 ch
vallées

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. valle ([ˈbaʎe]) and vallées (\va.le\) 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 46298, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

valle is recorded at frequency rank #36,200, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbaʎe]. vallées is at rank #10,098, tagged as anoun, pronounced \va.le\.

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 46298, this pair ranks #196,040 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of valle vs vallées

Shared letters: aelv. Private to "valle": -. Private to "vallées": .

"valle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "vallées" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • valleavlle · valel · vlale · vvalle

Frequency comparison

valle#36,200
vallées#10,098

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "valle" and "vallées" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbaʎe] versus \va.le\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "valle" or "vallées"?
"vallées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,098 in our French list, against #36,200 for "valle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering valle vs vallées

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “valle” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list