feriasvsfobiasWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“ferias” and “fobias” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#11,581
“ferias” frequency rank
#41,368
“fobias” frequency rank
52949
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ferias fobias
Definition Dádivas o agasajos que se hacen por el tiempo que hay ferias en algún lugar. Forma del plural de fobia

Where the eye mixes ferias and fobias

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ferias and fobias follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
ferias
6 ch
fobias

Why the eye confuses ferias with fobias

A purely visual mix-up. ferias ([ˈfeɾjas]) and fobias ([ˈfoβ̞jas]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52949, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ferias is recorded at frequency rank #11,581, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfeɾjas]. fobias is at rank #41,368, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoβ̞jas].

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 52949, this pair ranks #90,286 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ferias vs fobias

Shared letters: afis. Private to "ferias": er. Private to "fobias": bo.

"ferias" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "fobias" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ferias ← efrias · feiras · ferais · feriass · ferisa · ferrias · fferias · freias
  • fobias ← fboias · ffobias · fobais · fobbias · fobiass · fobisa · foibas · fovias

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ferias" for "fobias" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfeɾjas] versus [ˈfoβ̞jas]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "ferias" vs "fobias" - which ranks higher?
"ferias" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,581 in our Spanish list, against #41,368 for "fobias". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ferias" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fobias" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #90,286 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ferias" and "fobias" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fobias vs folios". 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 #90,286 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list