felvsfetoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fel is a noun, feto is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fel” is a noun and “feto” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,931
“fel” frequency rank
#13,082
“feto” frequency rank
56013
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fel feto
Definition bile, bílis engravidar (alguém), fecundar, tornar frutífero

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fel and feto apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
fel
4 ch
feto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fel is /ˈfɛɫ/ while feto is /ˈfeː.toː/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56013, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fel is recorded at frequency rank #42,931, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɛɫ/. feto is at rank #13,082, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfeː.toː/.

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 56013, this pair ranks #10,235 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fel vs feto

Shared letters: ef. Private to "fel": l. Private to "feto": ot.

"fel" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "feto" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fetoefto · feot · fetto · ffeto · fteo

Frequency comparison

fel#42,931
feto#13,082

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fel" and "feto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fel" is a noun and "feto" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fel" or "feto"?
"feto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,082 in our Portuguese list, against #42,931 for "fel". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fel vs feto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “fel”; for a verb, it's “feto”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fel” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list