Which to use
“falar” and “falhar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #157
- “falar” frequency rank
- #9,490
- “falhar” frequency rank
- 9647
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | falar | falhar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | emitir sons com significado coerente segundo uma convenção linguística qualquer | rachar |
Where the eye mixes falar and falhar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between falar and falhar
A purely visual mix-up. falar (/fɐ.ˈlaɾ/) and falhar (/fɐ.ˈʎaɾ/) 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 9647, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
falar is recorded at frequency rank #157, classified as averb, pronounced /fɐ.ˈlaɾ/. falhar is at rank #9,490, tagged as averb, pronounced /fɐ.ˈʎaɾ/.
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 9647, this pair ranks #63,721 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of falar vs falhar
Shared letters: aflr. Private to "falar": -. Private to "falhar": h.
"falar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "falhar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "falar" and "falhar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "falar" or "falhar"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "falar" and "falhar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "falar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "falhar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #63,721 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "falar" and "falhar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "falhar vs fartar". 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 #63,721 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.