Which to use
“formol” is a noun and “formos” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,373
- “formol” frequency rank
- #13,742
- “formos” frequency rank
- 58115
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | formol | formos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | solução aquosa de formaldeído (CH₂O) | primeira pessoa do plural do futuro do subjuntivo do verbo ser. |
Where the eye mixes formol and formos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between formol and formos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: formol is /fuɾ.ˈmɔɫ/ while formos is /ˈfoɾ.mus/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - l in “formol” becomes s in “formos”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58115, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
formol is recorded at frequency rank #44,373, classified as anoun, pronounced /fuɾ.ˈmɔɫ/. formos is at rank #13,742, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfoɾ.mus/.
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 58115, this pair ranks #8,938 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of formol vs formos
Shared letters: fmor. Private to "formol": l. Private to "formos": s.
"formol" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "formos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "formol" and "formos" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "formol" or "formos" show up more?
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 "formol" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "formos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #8,938 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "formol" and "formos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "former vs formol". 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 #8,938 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.