fileiravsfreiraConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#20,000
“fileira” frequency rank
#14,147
“freira” frequency rank
34147
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fileira freira
Definition série de pessoas ou coisas colocadas umas atrás das outras monja, pessoa religiosa que mora com outras em comunidade

Where the eye mixes fileira and freira

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fileira runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against freira's 6 (CCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
fileira
6 ch
freira

Look-alike desk: fileira vs freira

A purely visual mix-up. fileira (/fi.ˈlɐj.ɾɐ/) and freira (/ˈfɾɐj.ɾɐ/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34147, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fileira is recorded at frequency rank #20,000, classified as anoun, pronounced /fi.ˈlɐj.ɾɐ/. freira is at rank #14,147, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɾɐj.ɾɐ/.

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 34147, this pair ranks #33,199 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fileira vs freira

Shared letters: aefir. Private to "fileira": l. Private to "freira": -.

"fileira" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV  ·  "freira" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fileira ← ffileira · fielira · fileiar · fileirra · fileria · filiera · filleira · flieira
  • freira ← ferira · ffreira · freiar · freirra · freria · friera · frreira · rfeira

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fileira" for "freira" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/fi.ˈlɐj.ɾɐ/ versus /ˈfɾɐj.ɾɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "fileira" or "freira" show up more?
"freira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,147 in our Portuguese list, against #20,000 for "fileira". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fileira" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "freira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #33,199 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fileira" and "freira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ferra vs freira". 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 #33,199 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