valservsvolerConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#41,583
“valser” frequency rank
#3,115
“voler” frequency rank
44698
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature valser voler
Definition Danser la valse, une valse. Se maintenir dans les airs en battant des ailes.

Where the eye mixes valser and voler

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. valser runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against voler's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
valser
5 ch
voler

Why the eye confuses valser with voler

A purely visual mix-up. valser (\val.se\) and voler (\vɔ.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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44698, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

valser is recorded at frequency rank #41,583, classified as averb, pronounced \val.se\. voler is at rank #3,115, tagged as averb, pronounced \vɔ.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 44698, this pair ranks #208,507 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of valser vs voler

Shared letters: elrv. Private to "valser": as. Private to "voler": o.

"valser" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "voler" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • valser ← avlser · valesr · vallser · valserr · valsre · valsser · vasler · vlaser
  • voler ← ovler · vloer · voelr · volerr · voller · volre · vvoler

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "valser" and "voler" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\val.se\ versus \vɔ.le\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "valser" vs "voler" - which ranks higher?
"voler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,115 in our French list, against #41,583 for "valser". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "valser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "voler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #208,507 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "valser" and "voler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "valser vs visser". 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 #208,507 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