forvsforesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#220
“for” frequency rank
#24,651
“fores” frequency rank
24871
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature for fores
Definition primeira pessoa do singular do futuro do subjuntivo do verbo ser segunda pessoa do singular do futuro do conjuntivo/subjuntivo do verbo ir;

Where the eye mixes for and fores

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
for
5 ch
fores

Look-alike desk: for vs fores

A purely visual mix-up. for (/ˈfoɾ/) and fores (/ˈfo.ɾes/) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “for” sits inside “fores”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24871, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

for is recorded at frequency rank #220, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈfoɾ/. fores is at rank #24,651, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfo.ɾes/.

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 24871, this pair ranks #44,593 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of for vs fores

Shared letters: for. Private to "for": -. Private to "fores": es.

"for" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "fores" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • foresffores · foers · foress · forres · forse · froes · ofres

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "for" and "fores" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈfoɾ/ versus /ˈfo.ɾes/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "for" or "fores" show up more?
"for" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #220 in our Portuguese list, against #24,651 for "fores". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "for" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fores" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #44,593 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "for" and "fores" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fores vs former". 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 #44,593 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