firmevsfomeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,343
“firme” frequency rank
#38,128
“fome” frequency rank
40471
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature firme fome
Definition Difícil de ser movido o desplazado. Que no provoca gracia.

Where the eye mixes firme and fome

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. firme runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against fome's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
firme
4 ch
fome

Why the eye confuses firme with fome

A purely visual mix-up. firme ([ˈfiɾme]) and fome ([ˈfome]) 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 40471, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

firme is recorded at frequency rank #2,343, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfiɾme]. fome is at rank #38,128, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfome].

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 40471, this pair ranks #158,911 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of firme vs fome

Shared letters: efm. Private to "firme": ir. Private to "fome": o.

"firme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "fome" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • firme ← ffirme · fimre · firem · firmme · firrme · frime · ifrme
  • fome ← ffome · fmoe · foem · fomme · ofme

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "firme" and "fome" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfiɾme] versus [ˈfome]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "firme" or "fome"?
"firme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,343 in our Spanish list, against #38,128 for "fome". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "firme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fome" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #158,911 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "firme" and "fome" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fome vs fora". 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 #158,911 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