abalarvsavaliarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“abalar” and “avaliar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,655
“abalar” frequency rank
#3,534
“avaliar” frequency rank
20189
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abalar avaliar
Definition fazer tremer ou oscilar determinar o valor de

Where the eye mixes abalar and avaliar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. abalar runs 6 letters (VCVCVC) against avaliar's 7 (VCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
abalar
7 ch
avaliar

Why the eye confuses abalar with avaliar

A purely visual mix-up. abalar (/ɐ.bɐ.ˈlaɾ/) and avaliar (/ɐ.vɐ.ˈljaɾ/) 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 20189, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abalar is recorded at frequency rank #16,655, classified as averb, pronounced /ɐ.bɐ.ˈlaɾ/. avaliar is at rank #3,534, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɐ.vɐ.ˈljaɾ/.

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 20189, this pair ranks #50,385 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abalar vs avaliar

Shared letters: alr. Private to "abalar": b. Private to "avaliar": iv.

"abalar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC  ·  "avaliar" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • abalar ← aablar · abaalr · abalarr · aballar · abalra · abbalar · ablaar · baalar
  • avaliar ← aavliar · availar · avalair · avaliarr · avalira · avalliar · avlaiar · avvaliar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "abalar" and "avaliar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ɐ.bɐ.ˈlaɾ/ versus /ɐ.vɐ.ˈljaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "abalar" or "avaliar" show up more?
"avaliar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,534 in our Portuguese list, against #16,655 for "abalar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "abalar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "avaliar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #50,385 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "abalar" and "avaliar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abalar vs abarcar". 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 #50,385 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list