Which to use
“vala” and “valsa” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,196
- “vala” frequency rank
- #20,162
- “valsa” frequency rank
- 36358
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vala | valsa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | escavação em um terreno, de forma alongada e mais ou menos profunda, feita para variados fins, mais frequentemente para condução de águas, drenagem, ou instalação de encanamentos, esgotos etc | música de dança derivada do Ländler de compasso ternário |
Where the eye mixes vala and valsa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. vala runs 4 letters (CVCV) against valsa's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses vala with valsa
A purely visual mix-up. vala (/ˈva.lɐ/) and valsa (/ˈvałsɜ/) 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 36358, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vala is recorded at frequency rank #16,196, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈva.lɐ/. valsa is at rank #20,162, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈvałsɜ/.
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 36358, this pair ranks #30,488 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of vala vs valsa
Shared letters: alv. Private to "vala": -. Private to "valsa": s.
"vala" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "valsa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vala" for "valsa" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "vala" or "valsa" show up more?
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 "vala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "valsa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #30,488 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vala" and "valsa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "valsa vs vulva". 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 #30,488 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.