Which to use
“vela” and “volta” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,478
- “vela” frequency rank
- #219
- “volta” frequency rank
- 5697
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vela | volta |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | peça de brim ou lona que, presa às vergas de um mastro ou ao próprio mastro da embarcação, impele esta com a ajuda do vento | o ato de regressar ao local de partida |
Where the eye mixes vela and volta
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: vela vs volta
A purely visual mix-up. vela (/ˈvɛ.lɐ/) and volta (/ˈvɔɫ.tɐ/) 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 5697, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vela is recorded at frequency rank #5,478, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈvɛ.lɐ/. volta is at rank #219, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈvɔɫ.tɐ/.
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 5697, this pair ranks #68,871 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vela vs volta
Shared letters: alv. Private to "vela": e. Private to "volta": ot.
"vela" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "volta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "vela" and "volta" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "vela" or "volta" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "vela" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "volta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #68,871 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vela" and "volta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vela vs velar". 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 #68,871 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.