fossesvsfossoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fosses is a verb, fosso is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fosses” is a verb and “fosso” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,740
“fosses” frequency rank
#15,815
“fosso” frequency rank
45555
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fosses fosso
Definition segunda pessoa do singular do pretérito imperfeito do subjuntivo do verbo ser cova

Where the eye mixes fosses and fosso

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
fosses
5 ch
fosso

Look-alike desk: fosses vs fosso

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fosses is /ˈfo.sis/ while fosso is /ˈfo.su/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45555, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fosses is recorded at frequency rank #29,740, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈfo.sis/. fosso is at rank #15,815, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfo.su/.

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 45555, this pair ranks #19,830 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fosses vs fosso

Shared letters: fos. Private to "fosses": e. Private to "fosso": -.

"fosses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "fosso" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fossesffosses · fosess · fossess · fossse · fsoses · ofsses
  • fossoffosso · foso · fosos · fsoso · ofsso

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fosses" and "fosso" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fosses" is a verb and "fosso" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fosses" or "fosso"?
"fosso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,815 in our Portuguese list, against #29,740 for "fosses". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fosses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fosso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #19,830 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fosses" and "fosso" 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 #19,830 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list