Which to use
“fil” and “fila” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,592
- “fil” frequency rank
- #3,079
- “fila” frequency rank
- 38671
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fil | fila |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fio | sequência de pessoas ou coisas dispostas de forma organizada, em linha; enfiada |
Where the eye mixes fil and fila
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between fil and fila
A purely visual mix-up. fil (/fil/) and fila (/ˈfi.lɐ/) 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 extra letter(s) - “fil” sits inside “fila”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38671, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fil is recorded at frequency rank #35,592, classified as anoun, pronounced /fil/. fila is at rank #3,079, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfi.lɐ/.
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 38671, this pair ranks #27,718 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fil vs fila
Shared letters: fil. Private to "fil": -. Private to "fila": a.
"fil" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "fila" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- fila ← ffila · fial · filla · flia · ifla
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fil" and "fila" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "fil" vs "fila" - which ranks higher?
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 "fil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fila" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #27,718 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fil" and "fila" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fil vs filão". 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 #27,718 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.