fossovsfusoTell them apart

Which to use

“fosso” and “fuso” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,815
“fosso” frequency rank
#20,614
“fuso” frequency rank
36429
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fosso fuso
Definition cova seção de superfície esférica compreendida entre dois semi-círculos de uma esfera

Where the eye mixes fosso and fuso

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fosso runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against fuso's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
fosso
4 ch
fuso

Visual trap between fosso and fuso

A purely visual mix-up. fosso (/ˈfo.su/) and fuso (/ˈfu.zu/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36429, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fosso is recorded at frequency rank #15,815, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfo.su/. fuso is at rank #20,614, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfu.zu/.

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 36429, this pair ranks #30,382 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fosso vs fuso

Shared letters: fos. Private to "fosso": -. Private to "fuso": u.

"fosso" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "fuso" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fosso ← ffosso · foso · fosos · fsoso · ofsso
  • fuso ← ffuso · fsuo · fuos · fusso · ufso

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fosso" for "fuso" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈfo.su/ versus /ˈfu.zu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fosso" or "fuso"?
"fosso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,815 in our Portuguese list, against #20,614 for "fuso". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fosso" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fuso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #30,382 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fosso" and "fuso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fosco vs fuso". 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 #30,382 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