fartarvsferrarConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#48,928
“fartar” frequency rank
#11,270
“ferrar” frequency rank
60198
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fartar ferrar
Definition saciar a fome ou a sede a pôr ferraduras em

Where the eye mixes fartar and ferrar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fartar and ferrar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
fartar
6 ch
ferrar

Look-alike desk: fartar vs ferrar

A purely visual mix-up. fartar (/fɐɾ.ˈtaɾ/) and ferrar (/fɨ.ˈRaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60198, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fartar is recorded at frequency rank #48,928, classified as averb, pronounced /fɐɾ.ˈtaɾ/. ferrar is at rank #11,270, tagged as averb, pronounced /fɨ.ˈRaɾ/.

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 60198, this pair ranks #7,779 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fartar vs ferrar

Shared letters: afr. Private to "fartar": t. Private to "ferrar": e.

"fartar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "ferrar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fartar ← afrtar · faratr · farrtar · fartarr · fartra · farttar · fatrar · ffartar
  • ferrar ← efrrar · ferar · ferarr · ferrarr · ferrra · fferrar · frerar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fartar" and "ferrar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/fɐɾ.ˈtaɾ/ versus /fɨ.ˈRaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fartar" vs "ferrar" - which ranks higher?
"ferrar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,270 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.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fartar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ferrar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #7,779 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fartar" and "ferrar" 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 #7,779 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