enviarvsevitarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,777
“enviar” frequency rank
#1,168
“evitar” frequency rank
2945
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature enviar evitar
Definition mandar algo ou alguém de um lugar para outro procurar não fazer ou dizer (algo)

Where the eye mixes enviar and evitar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. enviar (VCCVVC) and evitar (VCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
enviar
6 ch
evitar

Why the eye confuses enviar with evitar

A purely visual mix-up. enviar (/ẽ.ˈvjaɾ/) and evitar (/i.vi.ˈtaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2945, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

enviar is recorded at frequency rank #1,777, classified as averb, pronounced /ẽ.ˈvjaɾ/. evitar is at rank #1,168, tagged as averb, pronounced /i.vi.ˈtaɾ/.

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 2945, this pair ranks #72,282 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of enviar vs evitar

Shared letters: aeirv. Private to "enviar": n. Private to "evitar": t.

"enviar" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC  ·  "evitar" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • enviar ← enivar · ennviar · envair · enviarr · envira · envviar · evniar · neviar
  • evitar ← eivtar · eviatr · evitarr · evitra · evittar · evtiar · evvitar · veitar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "enviar" and "evitar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ẽ.ˈvjaɾ/ versus /i.vi.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "enviar" vs "evitar" - which ranks higher?
"evitar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,168 in our Portuguese list, against #1,777 for "enviar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "enviar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "evitar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,282 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "enviar" and "evitar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enjoar vs enviar". 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 #72,282 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