faltarvsfartarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“faltar” and “fartar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,027
“faltar” frequency rank
#48,928
“fartar” frequency rank
55955
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature faltar fartar
Definition encontrar-se sem algo do que é preciso, haver falta de, não ter aquilo que é necessário saciar a fome ou a sede a

Where the eye mixes faltar and fartar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. faltar and fartar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
faltar
6 ch
fartar

Why the eye confuses faltar with fartar

A purely visual mix-up. faltar (/faɫ.ˈtaɾ/) and fartar (/fɐɾ.ˈtaɾ/) 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 a single letter - l in “faltar” becomes r in “fartar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55955, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

faltar is recorded at frequency rank #7,027, classified as averb, pronounced /faɫ.ˈtaɾ/. fartar is at rank #48,928, tagged as averb, pronounced /fɐɾ.ˈtaɾ/.

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 55955, this pair ranks #10,273 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of faltar vs fartar

Shared letters: afrt. Private to "faltar": l. Private to "fartar": -.

"faltar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "fartar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • faltar ← afltar · falatr · falltar · faltarr · faltra · falttar · fatlar · ffaltar
  • fartar ← afrtar · faratr · farrtar · fartarr · fartra · farttar · fatrar · ffartar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "faltar" and "fartar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/faɫ.ˈtaɾ/ versus /fɐɾ.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "faltar" vs "fartar" - which ranks higher?
"faltar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,027 in our Portuguese list, against #48,928 for "fartar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "faltar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fartar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,273 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "faltar" and "fartar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fartar vs furtar". 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 #10,273 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list