variaçãovsvariadaWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: variação is a noun, variada is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#6,356
“variação” frequency rank
#18,739
“variada” frequency rank
25095
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature variação variada
Definition mudança feminino de variado

Where the eye mixes variação and variada

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

8 ch
variação
7 ch
variada

Why the eye confuses variação with variada

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: variação is /vɐ.ɾjɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ while variada is /vɐ.ɾɪ.ˈa.dɐ/, /vɐ.ˈɾja.dɐ/. 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 25095, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

variação is recorded at frequency rank #6,356, classified as anoun, pronounced /vɐ.ɾjɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. variada is at rank #18,739, tagged as anadj, pronounced /vɐ.ɾɪ.ˈa.dɐ/, /vɐ.ˈɾja.dɐ/.

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 25095, this pair ranks #44,301 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of variação vs variada

Shared letters: airv. Private to "variação": oãç. Private to "variada": d.

"variação" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVV  ·  "variada" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • variadaavriada · vairada · varaida · variaad · variadda · varidaa · varriada · vraiada

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "variação" and "variada" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "variação" is a noun and "variada" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "variação" or "variada" show up more?
"variação" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,356 in our Portuguese list, against #18,739 for "variada". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "variação" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "variada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #44,301 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "variação" and "variada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "variada vs varíola". 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 #44,301 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list