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 eye mixes foca and fora
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. foca and fora follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses foca with fora
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "foca" for "fora" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "foca" or "fora" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "foca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fora" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #20,577 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foca" and "fora" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fora vs Frau". 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 #20,577 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.