foresvsfostesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,651
“fores” frequency rank
#42,935
“fostes” frequency rank
67586
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fores fostes
Definition segunda pessoa do singular do futuro do conjuntivo/subjuntivo do verbo ir; segunda pessoa do plural do pretérito perfeito do indicativo do verbo ser

Where the eye mixes fores and fostes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fores runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against fostes's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
fores
6 ch
fostes

Why the eye confuses fores with fostes

A purely visual mix-up. fores (/ˈfo.ɾes/) and fostes (/ˈfos.ʧis/) 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 67586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fores is recorded at frequency rank #24,651, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈfo.ɾes/. 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 67586, this pair ranks #4,581 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fores vs fostes

Shared letters: efos. Private to "fores": r. Private to "fostes": t.

"fores" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fostes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fores ← ffores · foers · foress · forres · forse · froes · ofres
  • fostes ← ffostes · fosets · fosstes · fostess · fostse · fosttes · fotses · fsotes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fores" for "fostes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈfo.ɾes/ versus /ˈfos.ʧis/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fores" or "fostes"?
"fores" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,651 in our Portuguese list, against #42,935 for "fostes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fores" 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 #4,581 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fores" 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 #4,581 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