Which to use
“formos” is a verb and “Formosa” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,742
- “formos” frequency rank
- #18,600
- “Formosa” frequency rank
- 32342
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | formos | Formosa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | primeira pessoa do plural do futuro do subjuntivo do verbo ser. | país asiático próximo à China |
Where the eye mixes formos and Formosa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses formos with Formosa
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: formos is /ˈfoɾ.mus/ while Formosa is /foɾ.ˈmɔ.zɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “formos” sits inside “Formosa”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32342, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
formos is recorded at frequency rank #13,742, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈfoɾ.mus/. Formosa is at rank #18,600, tagged as anoun, pronounced /foɾ.ˈmɔ.zɐ/.
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 32342, this pair ranks #35,488 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of formos vs Formosa
Shared letters: fmors. Private to "formos": -. Private to "Formosa": a.
"formos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Formosa" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "formos" and "Formosa" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "formos" or "Formosa" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "formos" and "Formosa" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "formos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Formosa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #35,488 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "formos" and "Formosa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "formol vs Formosa". 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 #35,488 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.