ferirvsferroConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#10,191
“ferir” frequency rank
#2,093
“ferro” frequency rank
12284
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ferir ferro
Definition causar ferimento a elemento químico de símbolo Fe, possui o número atômico 26 e massa atômica relativa 55,845 u; é o quarto elemento mais abundante na crosta terrestre; é um metal duro e muito reativo, formando ligas com os mais diversos elementos

Letter map: ferir vs ferro

Shared letters muted; letters that set ferir and ferro apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

5 ch
ferir
5 ch
ferro

Part-of-speech tell for ferir / ferro

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ferir is averb and ferroanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12284, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ferir is recorded at frequency rank #10,191, classified as averb, pronounced /fɨ.ˈɾiɾ/. ferro is at rank #2,093, tagged as anoun.

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 12284, this pair ranks #60,367 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ferir vs ferro

Shared letters: efr. Private to "ferir": i. Private to "ferro": o.

"ferir" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "ferro" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ferirefrir · feirr · ferirr · ferri · ferrir · fferir · freir
  • ferroefrro · fero · feror · fferro · frero

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ferir" and "ferro" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ferir" is a verb and "ferro" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ferir" vs "ferro" - which ranks higher?
"ferro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,093 in our Portuguese list, against #10,191 for "ferir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "ferir" and "ferro".

  • Full dictionary entry for "ferir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ferro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #60,367 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ferir" and "ferro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ferir vs fern". 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 #60,367 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