frontalvsfronteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: frontal is a adjective, fronte is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“frontal” is an adjective and “fronte” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,484
“frontal” frequency rank
#26,397
“fronte” frequency rank
34881
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature frontal fronte
Definition de frente parte superior do rosto (desde a raiz dos cabelos até às sobrancelhas)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set frontal and fronte apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
frontal
6 ch
fronte

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: frontal is /fɾõˈtaw/ while fronte is /ˈfɾõ.tɨ/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

frontal is recorded at frequency rank #8,484, classified as anadj, pronounced /fɾõˈtaw/. fronte is at rank #26,397, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɾõ.tɨ/.

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 34881, this pair ranks #32,264 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of frontal vs fronte

Shared letters: fnort. Private to "frontal": al. Private to "fronte": e.

"frontal" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "fronte" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • frontalffrontal · forntal · frnotal · fronatl · fronntal · frontall · frontla · fronttal
  • fronteffronte · fornte · frnote · fronet · fronnte · frontte · frotne · frronte

Frequency comparison

frontal#8,484
fronte#26,397

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "frontal" and "fronte" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "frontal" is an adjective and "fronte" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "frontal" or "fronte"?
"frontal" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,484 in our Portuguese list, against #26,397 for "fronte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering frontal vs fronte

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “frontal”; for a noun, it's “fronte”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “frontal” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list