valevsviveWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#576
“vale” frequency rank
#1,104
“vive” frequency rank
1680
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vale vive
Definition planície entre duas montanhas ou colinas terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo viver

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set vale and vive apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
vale
4 ch
vive

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

vale and vive form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1680, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vale is recorded at frequency rank #576, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈva.lɨ/. vive is at rank #1,104, tagged as averb.

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 1680, this pair ranks #73,842 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

vale#576
vive#1,104

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vale" and "vive" be used interchangeably?
No, "vale" and "vive" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering vale vs vive

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list