vilavsvivazWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: vila is a noun, vivaz is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vila” is a noun and “vivaz” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,184
“vila” frequency rank
#48,717
“vivaz” frequency rank
49901
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vila vivaz
Definition povoação de tamanho intermédio entre aldeia e cidade ativo

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
vila
5 ch
vivaz

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vila is /ˈvi.lɐ/ while vivaz is /vi.ˈvaʃ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49901, 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/. vivaz is at rank #48,717, tagged as anadj, pronounced /vi.ˈvaʃ/.

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 49901, this pair ranks #15,085 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of vila vs vivaz

Shared letters: aiv. Private to "vila": l. Private to "vivaz": z.

"vila" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "vivaz" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • vilaivla · vial · villa · vlia · vvila
  • vivazivvaz · viavz · vivazz · vivvaz · vivza · vviaz · vvivaz

Frequency comparison

vila#1,184
vivaz#48,717

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vila" and "vivaz" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vila" is a noun and "vivaz" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "vila" or "vivaz"?
"vila" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,184 in our Portuguese list, against #48,717 for "vivaz". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering vila vs vivaz

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list