fontesvsfostesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,360
“fontes” frequency rank
#42,935
“fostes” frequency rank
44295
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fontes fostes
Definition o mesmo que código-fonte segunda pessoa do plural do pretérito perfeito do indicativo do verbo ser

Letter map: fontes vs fostes

Shared letters muted; letters that set fontes and fostes apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. fontes and fostes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
fontes
6 ch
fostes

Grammar separator: fontes vs fostes

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: fontes is anoun and fostesaverb. On the page they differ by a single letter - n in “fontes” becomes s in “fostes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fontes is recorded at frequency rank #1,360, classified as anoun. fostes is at rank #42,935, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfos.ʧis/.

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 44295, this pair ranks #21,208 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fontes vs fostes

Shared letters: efost. Private to "fontes": n. Private to "fostes": -.

"fontes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "fostes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fontes ← ffontes · fnotes · fonets · fonntes · fontess · fontse · fonttes · fotnes
  • fostes ← ffostes · fosets · fosstes · fostess · fostse · fosttes · fotses · fsotes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fontes" and "fostes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fontes" is a noun and "fostes" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "fontes" vs "fostes" - which ranks higher?
"fontes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,360 in our Portuguese list, against #42,935 for "fostes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "fontes" and "fostes".

  • Full dictionary entry for "fontes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fostes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #21,208 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fontes" and "fostes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fosses vs fostes". 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 #21,208 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