foravsforçarTell them apart

Quick tell: fora is a adverb, forçar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fora” is an adverb and “forçar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#246
“fora” frequency rank
#6,423
“forçar” frequency rank
6669
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fora forçar
Definition exteriormente obrigar alguém a fazer algo que esta não queria fazer

Where the eye mixes fora and forçar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
fora
6 ch
forçar

Look-alike desk: fora vs forçar

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fora is /ˈfɔ.ɾɐ/ while forçar is /fuɾ.ˈsaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6669, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fora is recorded at frequency rank #246, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈfɔ.ɾɐ/. forçar is at rank #6,423, tagged as averb, pronounced /fuɾ.ˈsaɾ/.

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 6669, this pair ranks #67,716 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fora vs forçar

Shared letters: afor. Private to "fora": -. Private to "forçar": ç.

"fora" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "forçar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • foraffora · foar · forra · froa · ofra

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fora" for "forçar" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fora" is an adverb and "forçar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fora" or "forçar"?
"fora" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #246 in our Portuguese list, against #6,423 for "forçar". 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 "fora" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "forçar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,716 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fora" and "forçar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fartar vs forçar". 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 #67,716 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