foremvsforesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,330
“forem” frequency rank
#24,651
“fores” frequency rank
27981
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature forem fores
Definition terceira pessoa do plural do futuro do subjuntivo do verbo ser. segunda pessoa do singular do futuro do conjuntivo/subjuntivo do verbo ir;

Where the eye mixes forem and fores

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

5 ch
forem
5 ch
fores

Visual trap between forem and fores

A purely visual mix-up. forem (/ˈfo.ɾẽ/) 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 a single letter - m in “forem” becomes s in “fores”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27981, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

forem is recorded at frequency rank #3,330, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈfo.ɾẽ/. 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 27981, this pair ranks #40,911 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of forem vs fores

Shared letters: efor. Private to "forem": m. Private to "fores": s.

"forem" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fores" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • foremfforem · foerm · foremm · forme · forrem · froem · ofrem
  • foresffores · foers · foress · forres · forse · froes · ofres

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "forem" for "fores" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈfo.ɾẽ/ versus /ˈfo.ɾes/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "forem" vs "fores" - which ranks higher?
"forem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,330 in our Portuguese list, against #24,651 for "fores". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "forem" 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 #40,911 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "forem" 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 #40,911 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