Which to use
“vila” and “viola” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,184
- “vila” frequency rank
- #5,052
- “viola” frequency rank
- 6236
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | vila | viola |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | povoação de tamanho intermédio entre aldeia e cidade | instrumento musical de corda semelhante ao violino levemente maior e afinado uma quinta abaixo |
Where the eye mixes vila and viola
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: vila vs viola
A purely visual mix-up. vila (/ˈvi.lɐ/) and viola (/ˈvjɔ.lɐ/) 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 6236, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
vila is recorded at frequency rank #1,184, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈvi.lɐ/. viola is at rank #5,052, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈvjɔ.lɐ/.
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 6236, this pair ranks #68,224 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of vila vs viola
Shared letters: ailv. Private to "vila": -. Private to "viola": o.
"vila" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "viola" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "vila" for "viola" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "vila" or "viola" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "vila" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "viola" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #68,224 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "vila" and "viola" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "velar vs vila". 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 #68,224 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.