velar vs votar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“velar” is an adjective and “votar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,744
“velar” frequency rank: #2,345
“votar” frequency rank: 52089
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	velar	votar
Definition	relativo ao véu palatino ou aos sons produzidos nele	aprovar ou eleger por meio de voto

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set velar and votar apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

velar

5 ch

votar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: velar is /vɨ.ˈlaɾ/ while votar is /vu.ˈtaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52089, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

velar is recorded at frequency rank #49,744, classified as anadj, pronounced /vɨ.ˈlaɾ/. votar is at rank #2,345, tagged as averb, pronounced /vu.ˈtaɾ/.

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 52089, this pair ranks #13,043 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of velar vs votar

Shared letters: arv. Private to "velar": el. Private to "votar": ot.

"velar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "votar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

velar ← evlar · vealr · velarr · vellar · velra · vlear · vvelar
votar ← ovtar · voatr · votarr · votra · vottar · vtoar · vvotar

Frequency comparison

velar#49,744

votar#2,345

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "velar" and "votar" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "velar" is an adjective and "votar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "velar" or "votar"?

"votar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,345 in our Portuguese list, against #49,744 for "velar". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering velar vs votar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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