factovsfalhoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: facto is a noun, falho is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

By · Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org ·

Which to use

“facto” is a noun and “falho” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,780
“facto” frequency rank
#23,663
“falho” frequency rank
25443
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature facto falho
Definition coisa realizada: ato, feito que tem falha

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set facto and falho apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
facto
5 ch
falho

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: facto is /ˈfak.tu/ while falho is /ˈfa.ʎu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25443, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

facto is recorded at frequency rank #1,780, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfak.tu/. falho is at rank #23,663, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈfa.ʎu/.

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 25443, this pair ranks #43,864 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of facto vs falho

Shared letters: afo. Private to "facto": ct. Private to "falho": hl.

"facto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "falho" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • facto ← afcto · faccto · facot · factto · fatco · fcato · ffacto
  • falho ← aflho · fahlo · falhho · fallho · faloh · ffalho · flaho

Frequency comparison

facto#1,780
falho#23,663

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "facto" and "falho" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "facto" is a noun and "falho" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "facto" or "falho"?
"facto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,780 in our Portuguese list, against #23,663 for "falho". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering facto vs falho

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “facto”; for an adjective, it's “falho”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “facto” 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