focavsforaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: foca is a noun, fora is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“foca” is a noun and “fora” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,451
“foca” frequency rank
#48,418
“fora” frequency rank
74869
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature foca fora
Definition Nombre genérico para diversos mamíferos pinnípedos marinos, en particular para aquellos de la familia Fócidos (Phocidae), adaptados a vivir en medios acuáticos la mayor parte del tiempo. Tienen cuerpos alargados y fusiformes, adaptados a la natación; las extremidades anteriores son cortas y aplanadas, mejor preparadas para su uso como aletas que para el desplazamiento en tierra. Fuera

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
foca
4 ch
fora

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: foca is [ˈfoka] while fora is [ˈfɔ.ɾa]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “foca” becomes r in “fora”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74869, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

foca is recorded at frequency rank #26,451, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfoka]. fora is at rank #48,418, tagged as anadv, pronounced [ˈfɔ.ɾa].

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 74869, this pair ranks #20,577 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of foca vs fora

Shared letters: afo. Private to "foca": c. Private to "fora": r.

"foca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "fora" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • focafcoa · ffoca · foac · focca · ofca
  • foraffora · foar · forra · froa · ofra

Frequency comparison

foca#26,451
fora#48,418

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "foca" and "fora" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "foca" is a noun and "fora" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "foca" or "fora"?
"foca" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,451 in our Spanish list, against #48,418 for "fora". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering foca vs fora

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “foca”; for an adverb, it's “fora”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “foca” 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