Which to use
“van” is a noun and “vrai” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,759
- “van” frequency rank
- #223
- “vrai” frequency rank
- 1982
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | van | vrai |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Instrument d’osier, en forme de coquille, qui a deux anses, et dont on se sert pour secouer le grain, les impuretés, afin de séparer la paille d’avec le bon grain. | Qui est conforme à la vérité, à ce qui est réellement. |
Where the eye mixes van and vrai
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: van vs vrai
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: van is \vɑ̃\ while vrai is \vʁɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
van is recorded at frequency rank #1,759, classified as anoun, pronounced \vɑ̃\. vrai is at rank #223, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vʁɛ\.
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 1982, this pair ranks #437,008 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of van vs vrai
Shared letters: av. Private to "van": n. Private to "vrai": ir.
"van" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "vrai" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- vrai ← rvai · vari · vria · vrrai · vvrai
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "van" for "vrai" ever safe?
Which is more common, "van" or "vrai"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "van" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "vrai" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #437,008 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "van" and "vrai" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "van vs vigan". 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 #437,008 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.