fileira vs freira, What's the Difference?

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fileira and freira apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

fileira

6 ch

freira

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

Frequency comparison

fileira#20,000

freira#14,147

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fileira" and "freira" be used interchangeably?

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.

Which is more common, "fileira" or "freira"?

"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.

Remembering fileira vs freira

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 “fileira” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable