blauvsbolarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: blau is a adjective, bolar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“blau” is an adjective and “bolar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,501
“blau” frequency rank
#39,019
“bolar” frequency rank
78520
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature blau bolar
Definition azul idealizar, conceber

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set blau and bolar apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
blau
5 ch
bolar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: blau is /blaʊ̯/ ouvir^(fonte ?) while bolar is /bu.ˈlaɾ/. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78520, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

blau is recorded at frequency rank #39,501, classified as anadj, pronounced /blaʊ̯/ ouvir^(fonte ?). bolar is at rank #39,019, tagged as averb, pronounced /bu.ˈlaɾ/.

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 78520, this pair ranks #1,658 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of blau vs bolar

Shared letters: abl. Private to "blau": u. Private to "bolar": or.

"blau" · 4 letters · shape CCVV  ·  "bolar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • blaubalu · bblau · bllau · lbau
  • bolarbbolar · bloar · boalr · bolarr · bollar · bolra · oblar

Frequency comparison

blau#39,501
bolar#39,019

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "blau" and "bolar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "blau" is an adjective and "bolar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "blau" or "bolar"?
"bolar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,019 in our Portuguese list, against #39,501 for "blau". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering blau vs bolar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “blau”; for a verb, it's “bolar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “blau” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list