Which to use
“variação” and “viação” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,356
- “variação” frequency rank
- #17,667
- “viação” frequency rank
- 24023
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | variação | viação |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mudança | empresa de ônibus ou de outros veículos de passageiros |
Where the eye mixes variação and viação
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. variação runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVV) against viação's 6 (CVVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between variação and viação
A purely visual mix-up. variação (/vɐ.ɾjɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and viação (/vjɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24023, 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/. viação is at rank #17,667, tagged as anoun, pronounced /vjɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.
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 24023, this pair ranks #45,688 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of variação vs viação
Shared letters: aiovãç. Private to "variação": r. Private to "viação": -.
"variação" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVV · "viação" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "variação" for "viação" ever safe?
Which is more common, "variação" or "viação"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "variação" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "viação" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #45,688 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "variação" and "viação" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "varão vs viação". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #45,688 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.