ferrarvsfurtarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,270
“ferrar” frequency rank
#31,387
“furtar” frequency rank
42657
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ferrar furtar
Definition pôr ferraduras em subtrair algo alheio sem uso de violência ou ameaça

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ferrar and furtar apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
ferrar
6 ch
furtar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ferrar (/fɨ.ˈRaɾ/) and furtar (/fuɾ.ˈtaɾ/) 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 42657, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ferrar is recorded at frequency rank #11,270, classified as averb, pronounced /fɨ.ˈRaɾ/. furtar is at rank #31,387, tagged as averb, pronounced /fuɾ.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 42657, this pair ranks #23,099 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ferrar vs furtar

Shared letters: afr. Private to "ferrar": e. Private to "furtar": tu.

"ferrar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "furtar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ferrarefrrar · ferar · ferarr · ferrarr · ferrra · fferrar · frerar
  • furtarffurtar · frutar · furatr · furrtar · furtarr · furtra · furttar · futrar

Frequency comparison

ferrar#11,270
furtar#31,387

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ferrar" and "furtar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/fɨ.ˈRaɾ/ versus /fuɾ.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ferrar" or "furtar"?
"ferrar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,270 in our Portuguese list, against #31,387 for "furtar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ferrar vs furtar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ferrar” 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