Which to use
“valência” and “violência” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,877
- “valência” frequency rank
- #1,414
- “violência” frequency rank
- 21291
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | valência | violência |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de valer | força intensa e repentina |
Where the eye mixes valência and violência
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. valência runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVV) against violência's 9 (CVVCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses valência with violência
A purely visual mix-up. valência (/vɐ.ˈlẽ.sjɐ/) and violência (/vju.ˈlẽ.sjɐ/) 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 21291, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
valência is recorded at frequency rank #19,877, classified as anoun, pronounced /vɐ.ˈlẽ.sjɐ/. violência is at rank #1,414, tagged as anoun, pronounced /vju.ˈlẽ.sjɐ/.
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 21291, this pair ranks #49,019 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of valência vs violência
Shared letters: acilnvê. Private to "valência": -. Private to "violência": o.
"valência" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV · "violência" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "valência" for "violência" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "valência" or "violência" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "valência" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "violência" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #49,019 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "valência" and "violência" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "valência vs valentia". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #49,019 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.