vsfelWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“fá” and “fel” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,293
“fá” frequency rank
#42,931
“fel” frequency rank
60224
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fel
Definition quarta nota musical da escala de dó maior bile, bílis

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set and fel apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

2 ch
fá
3 ch
fel

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. (/ˈfa/) and fel (/ˈfɛɫ/) 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 60224, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

is recorded at frequency rank #17,293, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfa/. fel is at rank #42,931, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɛɫ/.

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 60224, this pair ranks #7,760 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fá vs fel

Shared letters: f. Private to "fá": á. Private to "fel": el.

"fá" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "fel" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

#17,293
fel#42,931

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fá" and "fel" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈfa/ versus /ˈfɛɫ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fá" or "fel"?
"fá" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,293 in our Portuguese list, against #42,931 for "fel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fá vs fel

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fá” 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