viaçãovsvulcãoTell them apart

Which to use

“viação” and “vulcão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,667
“viação” frequency rank
#10,987
“vulcão” frequency rank
28654
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature viação vulcão
Definition empresa de ônibus ou de outros veículos de passageiros estrutura geológica pela qual são expelidas substâncias (geralmente magma) presentes no interior da Terra

Where the eye mixes viação and vulcão

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. viação (CVVCVV) and vulcão (CVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
viação
6 ch
vulcão

Look-alike desk: viação vs vulcão

A purely visual mix-up. viação (/vjɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and vulcão (/vuɫ.ˈkɐ̃w̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28654, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

viação is recorded at frequency rank #17,667, classified as anoun, pronounced /vjɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. vulcão is at rank #10,987, tagged as anoun, pronounced /vuɫ.ˈkɐ̃w̃/.

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 28654, this pair ranks #40,152 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of viação vs vulcão

Shared letters: ovã. Private to "viação": aiç. Private to "vulcão": clu.

"viação" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV  ·  "vulcão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "viação" and "vulcão" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/vjɐ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ versus /vuɫ.ˈkɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "viação" vs "vulcão" - which ranks higher?
"vulcão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,987 in our Portuguese list, against #17,667 for "viação". 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 "viação" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vulcão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #40,152 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "viação" and "vulcão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vulcão vs vulva". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #40,152 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