fugavsfuiWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#3,622
“fuga” frequency rank
#365
“fui” frequency rank
3987
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fuga fui
Definition ato ou efeito de escapar, fugir primeira pessoa do singular do pretérito perfeito simples do indicativo do verbo ir:

Where the eye mixes fuga and fui

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
fuga
3 ch
fui

Visual trap between fuga and fui

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fuga is /ˈfu.ɡɐ/ while fui is /ˈfuj/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3987, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fuga is recorded at frequency rank #3,622, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfu.ɡɐ/. fui is at rank #365, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfuj/.

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 3987, this pair ranks #71,061 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fuga vs fui

Shared letters: fu. Private to "fuga": ag. Private to "fui": i.

"fuga" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "fui" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fugaffuga · fgua · fuag · fugga · ufga

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fuga" for "fui" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fuga" is a noun and "fui" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fuga" or "fui"?
"fui" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #365 in our Portuguese list, against #3,622 for "fuga". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fuga" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #71,061 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fuga" and "fui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fava vs fuga". 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 #71,061 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