Which to use
“fosses” and “fostes” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,740
- “fosses” frequency rank
- #42,935
- “fostes” frequency rank
- 72675
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fosses | fostes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | segunda pessoa do singular do pretérito imperfeito do subjuntivo do verbo ser | segunda pessoa do plural do pretérito perfeito do indicativo do verbo ser |
Where the eye mixes fosses and fostes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. fosses and fostes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses fosses with fostes
A purely visual mix-up. fosses (/ˈfo.sis/) and fostes (/ˈfos.ʧis/) 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 “fosses” becomes t in “fostes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72675, 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/. 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 72675, this pair ranks #2,985 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fosses vs fostes
Shared letters: efos. Private to "fosses": -. Private to "fostes": t.
"fosses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "fostes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fosses" and "fostes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "fosses" or "fostes"?
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 "fosses" 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 #2,985 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fosses" and "fostes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fores 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 #2,985 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.