federvsfenderWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#39,150
“feder” frequency rank
#42,932
“fender” frequency rank
82082
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature feder fender
Definition cheirar mal criar fenda em; rachar, rasgar, separar

Where the eye mixes feder and fender

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. feder runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against fender's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
feder
6 ch
fender

Why the eye confuses feder with fender

A purely visual mix-up. feder (/fɨ.ˈdeɾ/) and fender (/fẽ.ˈdeɾ/) 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 82082, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

feder is recorded at frequency rank #39,150, classified as averb, pronounced /fɨ.ˈdeɾ/. fender is at rank #42,932, tagged as averb, pronounced /fẽ.ˈdeɾ/.

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 82082, this pair ranks #1,078 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of feder vs fender

Shared letters: defr. Private to "feder": -. Private to "fender": n.

"feder" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fender" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • feder ← efder · fdeer · fedder · federr · fedre · feedr · ffeder
  • fender ← efnder · fedner · fendder · fenderr · fendre · fenedr · fennder · ffender

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "feder" and "fender" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/fɨ.ˈdeɾ/ versus /fẽ.ˈdeɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "feder" vs "fender" - which ranks higher?
"feder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,150 in our Portuguese list, against #42,932 for "fender". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "feder" and "fender" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "feder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fender" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,078 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "feder" and "fender" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fender vs Finger". 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 #1,078 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