Which to use
“fossa” is a noun and “fosses” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,291
- “fossa” frequency rank
- #29,740
- “fosses” frequency rank
- 47031
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fossa | fosses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | grande abertura na terra | segunda pessoa do singular do pretérito imperfeito do subjuntivo do verbo ser |
Where the eye mixes fossa and fosses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fossa runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against fosses's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fossa and fosses
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fossa is /ˈfɔ.sɐ/ while fosses is /ˈfo.sis/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fossa is recorded at frequency rank #17,291, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɔ.sɐ/. fosses is at rank #29,740, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfo.sis/.
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 47031, this pair ranks #18,261 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fossa vs fosses
Shared letters: fos. Private to "fossa": a. Private to "fosses": e.
"fossa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "fosses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fossa" for "fosses" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fossa" or "fosses"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fossa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fosses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,261 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fossa" and "fosses" 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 #18,261 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.