Which to use
“forte” is an adjective and “fostes” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #463
- “forte” frequency rank
- #42,935
- “fostes” frequency rank
- 43398
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | forte | fostes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que tem força | segunda pessoa do plural do pretérito perfeito do indicativo do verbo ser |
Where the eye mixes forte and fostes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. forte runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against fostes's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: forte vs fostes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: forte is [ˈfɔɾt͡ʃɪ] while fostes is /ˈfos.ʧis/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43398, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
forte is recorded at frequency rank #463, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfɔɾt͡ʃɪ]. 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 43398, this pair ranks #22,241 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of forte vs fostes
Shared letters: efot. Private to "forte": r. Private to "fostes": s.
"forte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "fostes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "forte" and "fostes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "forte" or "fostes"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "forte" 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 #22,241 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "forte" 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 #22,241 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.