vala vs velar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“vala” is a noun and “velar” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,196
“vala” frequency rank: #49,744
“velar” frequency rank: 65940
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	vala	velar
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	relativo ao véu palatino ou aos sons produzidos nele

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

vala

5 ch

velar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vala is /ˈva.lɐ/ while velar is /vɨ.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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65940, 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/. velar is at rank #49,744, tagged as anadj, pronounced /vɨ.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 65940, this pair ranks #5,174 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of vala vs velar

Shared letters: alv. Private to "vala": -. Private to "velar": er.

"vala" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "velar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

vala ← avla · vaal · valla · vlaa · vvala
velar ← evlar · vealr · velarr · vellar · velra · vlear · vvelar

Frequency comparison

vala#16,196

velar#49,744

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vala" and "velar" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vala" is a noun and "velar" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "vala" or "velar"?

"vala" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,196 in our Portuguese list, against #49,744 for "velar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering vala vs velar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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