volvsvósTell them apart

Quick tell: vol is a noun, vós is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“vol” is a noun and “vós” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,986
“vol” frequency rank
#6,014
“vós” frequency rank
17000
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature vol vós
Definition voo: usado para indicar as pessoas a quem se fala

Where the eye mixes vol and vós

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
vol
3 ch
vós

Why the eye confuses vol with vós

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: vol is /vɔl/ while vós is [vɔʃ], [vɔs]. 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 (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17000, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

vol is recorded at frequency rank #10,986, classified as anoun, pronounced /vɔl/. vós is at rank #6,014, tagged as apron, pronounced [vɔʃ], [vɔs].

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 17000, this pair ranks #54,363 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of vol vs vós

Shared letters: v. Private to "vol": lo. Private to "vós": .

"vol" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "vós" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "vol" and "vós" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "vol" is a noun and "vós" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "vol" vs "vós" - which ranks higher?
"vós" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,014 in our Portuguese list, against #10,986 for "vol". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "vol" and "vós" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "vol" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "vós" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #54,363 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "vol" and "vós" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "velo vs vol". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #54,363 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