Which to use
“firmar” and “furar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,766
- “firmar” frequency rank
- #14,378
- “furar” frequency rank
- 31144
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | firmar | furar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | tornar firme | abrir furo, buraco ou rombo em; cavar |
Where the eye mixes firmar and furar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. firmar runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against furar's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between firmar and furar
A purely visual mix-up. firmar (/fiɾ.ˈmaɾ/) and furar (/fu.ˈɾaɾ/) 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 31144, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
firmar is recorded at frequency rank #16,766, classified as averb, pronounced /fiɾ.ˈmaɾ/. furar is at rank #14,378, tagged as averb, pronounced /fu.ˈɾaɾ/.
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 31144, this pair ranks #37,032 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of firmar vs furar
Shared letters: afr. Private to "firmar": im. Private to "furar": u.
"firmar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "furar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "firmar" and "furar" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "firmar" or "furar" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "firmar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "furar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #37,032 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "firmar" and "furar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fartar vs firmar". 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 #37,032 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.