fogãovsfotoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,722
“fogão” frequency rank
#211
“foto” frequency rank
10933
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fogão foto
Definition aparelho doméstico para cozinhar e aquecer fotografia

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fogão and foto apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
fogão
4 ch
foto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. fogão (/fu.ˈɡɐ̃w̃/) and foto (/'fɔ.tu/) 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 10933, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fogão is recorded at frequency rank #10,722, classified as anoun, pronounced /fu.ˈɡɐ̃w̃/. foto is at rank #211, tagged as anoun, pronounced /'fɔ.tu/.

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 10933, this pair ranks #62,029 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fogão vs foto

Shared letters: fo. Private to "fogão": . Private to "foto": t.

"fogão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "foto" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fotoffoto · foot · fotto · ftoo · ofto

Frequency comparison

fogão#10,722
foto#211

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fogão" and "foto" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/fu.ˈɡɐ̃w̃/ versus /'fɔ.tu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fogão" or "foto"?
"foto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #211 in our Portuguese list, against #10,722 for "fogão". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering fogão vs foto

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list