focavsfortWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,451
“foca” frequency rank
#12,607
“fort” frequency rank
39058
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature foca fort
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. Fuerte, fortín.

Where the eye mixes foca and fort

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
foca
4 ch
fort

Visual trap between foca and fort

A purely visual mix-up. foca ([ˈfoka]) and fort (/fɔːt/) 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 39058, 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]. fort is at rank #12,607, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fɔːt/.

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 39058, this pair ranks #166,618 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of foca vs fort

Shared letters: fo. Private to "foca": ac. Private to "fort": rt.

"foca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "fort" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • focafcoa · ffoca · foac · focca · ofca
  • fortffort · forrt · fortt · fotr · frot · ofrt

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "foca" and "fort" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfoka] versus /fɔːt/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "foca" or "fort"?
"fort" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,607 in our Spanish list, against #26,451 for "foca". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "foca" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fort" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #166,618 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "foca" and "fort" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foca 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 #166,618 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