avalvsavalarWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: aval is a noun, avalar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“aval” is a noun and “avalar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,272
“aval” frequency rank
#38,513
“avalar” frequency rank
54785
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aval avalar
Definition Afianzamiento del pago de una letra en caso de que no sea satisfecha por el aceptante. Responder con el dinero y las propiedades de uno mismo por las deudas que pueda contraer otra persona. Servir de fiador, avalista o avalador.

Where the eye mixes aval and avalar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
aval
6 ch
avalar

Look-alike desk: aval vs avalar

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aval is [aˈβ̞al] while avalar is [aβ̞aˈlaɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “aval” sits inside “avalar”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54785, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aval is recorded at frequency rank #16,272, classified as anoun, pronounced [aˈβ̞al]. avalar is at rank #38,513, tagged as averb, pronounced [aβ̞aˈlaɾ].

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 54785, this pair ranks #81,812 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aval vs avalar

Shared letters: alv. Private to "aval": -. Private to "avalar": r.

"aval" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "avalar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • avalaavl · abal · avall · avla · avval · vaal
  • avalaraavlar · abalar · avaalr · avalarr · avallar · avalra · avlaar · avvalar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "aval" and "avalar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "aval" is a noun and "avalar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "aval" or "avalar" show up more?
"aval" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,272 in our Spanish list, against #38,513 for "avalar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "aval" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "avalar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #81,812 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "aval" and "avalar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "afilar vs avalar". 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 #81,812 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list