Which to use
“falhar” is a verb and “falho” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,490
- “falhar” frequency rank
- #23,663
- “falho” frequency rank
- 33153
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | falhar | falho |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | rachar | que tem falha |
Where the eye mixes falhar and falho
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. falhar runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against falho's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses falhar with falho
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: falhar is /fɐ.ˈʎaɾ/ while falho is /ˈfa.ʎu/. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33153, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
falhar is recorded at frequency rank #9,490, classified as averb, pronounced /fɐ.ˈʎaɾ/. 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 33153, this pair ranks #34,442 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of falhar vs falho
Shared letters: afhl. Private to "falhar": r. Private to "falho": o.
"falhar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "falho" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "falhar" for "falho" ever safe?
Which is more common, "falhar" or "falho"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "falhar" 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 #34,442 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "falhar" 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 #34,442 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.