bolvsbolarConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#33,715
“bol” frequency rank
#39,019
“bolar” frequency rank
72734
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bol bolar
Definition bacia idealizar, conceber

Where the eye mixes bol and bolar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
bol
5 ch
bolar

Visual trap between bol and bolar

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bol is /ˈbɔɫ/ while bolar is /bu.ˈlaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “bol” sits inside “bolar”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72734, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bol is recorded at frequency rank #33,715, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɔɫ/. 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 72734, this pair ranks #2,968 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bol vs bolar

Shared letters: blo. Private to "bol": -. Private to "bolar": ar.

"bol" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "bolar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bolarbbolar · bloar · boalr · bolarr · bollar · bolra · oblar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bol" for "bolar" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bol" is a noun and "bolar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "bol" or "bolar"?
"bol" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,715 in our Portuguese list, against #39,019 for "bolar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "bol" and "bolar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bol" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bolar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,968 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bol" and "bolar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bailar vs bolar". 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 #2,968 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