Which to use
“fá” is a noun and “fon” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,293
- “fá” frequency rank
- #44,372
- “fon” frequency rank
- 61665
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fá | fon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | quarta nota musical da escala de dó maior | relativo à etnia dos fons |
Where the eye mixes fá and fon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. fá runs 2 letters (CV) against fon's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fá vs fon
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fá is /ˈfa/ while fon is /ˈfõ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61665, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fá is recorded at frequency rank #17,293, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfa/. fon is at rank #44,372, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈfõ/.
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 61665, this pair ranks #7,020 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fá vs fon
Shared letters: f. Private to "fá": á. Private to "fon": no.
"fá" · 2 letters · shape CV · "fon" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fá" and "fon" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "fá" or "fon"?
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 "fá" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #7,020 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fá" and "fon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fern vs fon". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #7,020 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.