varvsveryTell them apart

Quick tell: var is a noun, very is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“var” is a noun and “very” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,629
“var” frequency rank
#17,034
“very” frequency rank
21663
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature var very
Definition Unité de puissance réactive qui correspond à un courant alternatif de 1 ampère sous une chute de tension de 1 volt Très, bien.

Where the eye mixes var and very

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
var
4 ch
very

Look-alike desk: var vs very

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: var is \vaʁ\ while very is \ˈvɛɹ.i\. 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21663, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

var is recorded at frequency rank #4,629, classified as anoun, pronounced \vaʁ\. very is at rank #17,034, tagged as anadv, pronounced \ˈvɛɹ.i\.

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 21663, this pair ranks #362,052 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of var vs very

Shared letters: rv. Private to "var": a. Private to "very": ey.

"var" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "very" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • veryevry · verry · veryy · veyr · vrey · vvery

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "var" for "very" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "var" is a noun and "very" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "var" or "very"?
"var" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,629 in our French list, against #17,034 for "very". 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 "var" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "very" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #362,052 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "var" and "very" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "very vs voy". 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 #362,052 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