vá vs vós, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“vá” is an intj and “vós” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,517
“vá” frequency rank: #6,014
“vós” frequency rank: 7531
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	vá	vós
Definition	para indicar moderação, para prevenir de não provocar dano	usado para indicar as pessoas a quem se fala

Where the eye mixes vá and vós

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch

vá

3 ch

vós

Why the eye confuses vá with vós

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vá is /ˈva/ while vós is [vɔʃ], [vɔs]. 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 (intj vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7531, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vá is recorded at frequency rank #1,517, classified as anintj, pronounced /ˈva/. vós is at rank #6,014, tagged as apron, pronounced [vɔʃ], [vɔs].

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 7531, this pair ranks #66,583 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of vá vs vós

Shared letters: v. Private to "vá": á. Private to "vós": só.

"vá" · 2 letters · shape CV · "vós" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "vá" for "vós" ever safe?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vá" is an intj and "vós" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

In ordinary Portuguese text, does "vá" or "vós" show up more?

"vá" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,517 in our Portuguese list, against #6,014 for "vós". 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 "vá" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "vós" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #66,583 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"vá" and "vós" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vet vs vós". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #66,583 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.