Which to use
“fosse” and “foste” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #348
- “fosse” frequency rank
- #11,469
- “foste” frequency rank
- 11817
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fosse | foste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | primeira pessoa do singular do pretérito imperfeito do conjuntivo do verbo ser | segunda pessoa do singular do pretérito perfeito do indicativo do verbo ser |
Where the eye mixes fosse and foste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fosse and foste follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses fosse with foste
A purely visual mix-up. fosse (/ˈfo.si/) and foste (/ˈfos.ʧi/) 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 a single letter - s in “fosse” becomes t in “foste”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11817, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fosse is recorded at frequency rank #348, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈfo.si/. foste is at rank #11,469, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfos.ʧi/.
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 11817, this pair ranks #60,946 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fosse vs foste
Shared letters: efos. Private to "fosse": -. Private to "foste": t.
"fosse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "foste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fosse" for "foste" ever safe?
Frequency check: "fosse" vs "foste" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fosse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #60,946 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fosse" and "foste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fosco vs foste". 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 #60,946 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.