vir vs viril, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#817
“vir” frequency rank: #35,397
“viril” frequency rank: 36214
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	vir	viril
Definition	transportar-se para o local onde está o interlocutor	relativo ou próprio de homem

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch

vir

5 ch

viril

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: vir is averb and virilanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “vir” sits inside “viril”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36214, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vir is recorded at frequency rank #817, classified as averb. viril is at rank #35,397, tagged as anadj, pronounced /vi.ˈɾiɫ/.

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 36214, this pair ranks #30,653 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vir vs viril

Shared letters: irv. Private to "vir": -. Private to "viril": l.

"vir" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "viril" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

viril ← ivril · viirl · virill · virli · virril · vriil · vviril

Frequency comparison

vir#817

viril#35,397

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vir" and "viril" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "vir" or "viril"?

"vir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #817 in our Portuguese list, against #35,397 for "viril". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering vir vs viril

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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