filavsfivelaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,079
“fila” frequency rank
#41,510
“fivela” frequency rank
44589
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fila fivela
Definition sequência de pessoas ou coisas dispostas de forma organizada, em linha; enfiada peça metálica com fuzilhão em que se prende uma correia ou fita

Where the eye mixes fila and fivela

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
fila
6 ch
fivela

Look-alike desk: fila vs fivela

A purely visual mix-up. fila (/ˈfi.lɐ/) and fivela (/fi.ˈvɛ.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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44589, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fila is recorded at frequency rank #3,079, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfi.lɐ/. fivela is at rank #41,510, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fi.ˈvɛ.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 44589, this pair ranks #20,865 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fila vs fivela

Shared letters: afil. Private to "fila": -. Private to "fivela": ev.

"fila" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "fivela" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • filaffila · fial · filla · flia · ifla
  • fivelaffivela · fievla · fiveal · fivella · fivlea · fivvela · fviela · ifvela

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fila" and "fivela" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈfi.lɐ/ versus /fi.ˈvɛ.lɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fila" or "fivela"?
"fila" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,079 in our Portuguese list, against #41,510 for "fivela". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fila" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fivela" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #20,865 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fila" and "fivela" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fiável vs fivela". 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 #20,865 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