Which to use
“fair” is an adjective and “ferir” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,248
- “fair” frequency rank
- #10,191
- “ferir” frequency rank
- 22439
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fair | ferir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | justo | causar ferimento a |
Where the eye mixes fair and ferir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between fair and ferir
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fair is /fɛːɐ̯/ ouvir^(fonte ?) while ferir is /fɨ.ˈɾiɾ/. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22439, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fair is recorded at frequency rank #12,248, classified as anadj, pronounced /fɛːɐ̯/ ouvir^(fonte ?). ferir is at rank #10,191, tagged as averb, pronounced /fɨ.ˈɾiɾ/.
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 22439, this pair ranks #47,600 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fair vs ferir
Shared letters: fir. Private to "fair": a. Private to "ferir": e.
"fair" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "ferir" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fair" and "ferir" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "fair" or "ferir" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "fair" and "ferir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fair" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ferir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,600 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fair" and "ferir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ferir vs fern". 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 #47,600 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.