fimvsfoiConfusable pair

Quick tell: fim is a noun, foi is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fim” is a noun and “foi” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#227
“fim” frequency rank
#26
“foi” frequency rank
253
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fim foi
Definition lugar ou tempo em que algo termina, final, antônimo de início terceira pessoa do singular do pretérito perfeito do indicativo do verbo ser

Letter map: fim vs foi

Shared letters muted; letters that set fim and foi apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
fim
3 ch
foi

Grammar separator: fim vs foi

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: fim is anoun and foiaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 253, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fim is recorded at frequency rank #227, classified as anoun. foi is at rank #26, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfoj/.

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 253, this pair ranks #75,382 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fim vs foi

Shared letters: fi. Private to "fim": m. Private to "foi": o.

"fim" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "foi" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fim" for "foi" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fim" is a noun and "foi" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fim" or "foi"?
"foi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26 in our Portuguese list, against #227 for "fim". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "fim" and "foi".

  • Full dictionary entry for "fim" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "foi" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #75,382 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fim" and "foi" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "faia vs fim". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #75,382 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