forçarvsfurarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,423
“forçar” frequency rank
#14,378
“furar” frequency rank
20801
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature forçar furar
Definition obrigar alguém a fazer algo que esta não queria fazer abrir furo, buraco ou rombo em; cavar

Where the eye mixes forçar and furar

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

6 ch
forçar
5 ch
furar

Visual trap between forçar and furar

A purely visual mix-up. forçar (/fuɾ.ˈsaɾ/) 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 20801, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

forçar is recorded at frequency rank #6,423, classified as averb, pronounced /fuɾ.ˈsaɾ/. 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 20801, this pair ranks #49,622 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of forçar vs furar

Shared letters: afr. Private to "forçar": oç. Private to "furar": u.

"forçar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "furar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • furar ← ffurar · fruar · fuarr · furarr · furra · furrar · ufrar

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "forçar" for "furar" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/fuɾ.ˈsaɾ/ versus /fu.ˈɾaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "forçar" vs "furar" - which ranks higher?
"forçar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,423 in our Portuguese list, against #14,378 for "furar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "forçar" 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 #49,622 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "forçar" and "furar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fartar vs furar". 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 #49,622 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