fumanvsfumeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#24,160
“fuman” frequency rank
#33,140
“fume” frequency rank
57300
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fuman fume
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de fumar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de fumar.

Where the eye mixes fuman and fume

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

5 ch
fuman
4 ch
fume

Look-alike desk: fuman vs fume

A purely visual mix-up. fuman ([ˈfumãn]) and fume ([ˈfume]) 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 57300, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fuman is recorded at frequency rank #24,160, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfumãn]. fume is at rank #33,140, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfume].

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 57300, this pair ranks #71,048 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fuman vs fume

Shared letters: fmu. Private to "fuman": an. Private to "fume": e.

"fuman" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fume" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fuman ← ffuman · fmuan · fuamn · fumann · fumman · fumna · ufman
  • fume ← ffume · fmue · fuem · fumme · ufme

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fuman" for "fume" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfumãn] versus [ˈfume]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "fuman" or "fume" show up more?
"fuman" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,160 in our Spanish list, against #33,140 for "fume". 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 "fuman" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fume" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #71,048 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fuman" and "fume" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fume vs fuste". 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 #71,048 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