Which to use
“falar” is a verb and “falho” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #157
- “falar” frequency rank
- #23,663
- “falho” frequency rank
- 23820
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | falar | falho |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | emitir sons com significado coerente segundo uma convenção linguística qualquer | que tem falha |
Where the eye mixes falar and falho
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. falar (CVCVC) and falho (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between falar and falho
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: falar is /fɐ.ˈlaɾ/ 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23820, 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/. 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 23820, this pair ranks #45,928 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of falar vs falho
Shared letters: afl. Private to "falar": r. Private to "falho": ho.
"falar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "falho" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "falar" and "falho" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "falar" or "falho"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "falar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "falho" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #45,928 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "falar" and "falho" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "falho vs filão". 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 #45,928 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.