Which to use
“fumar” and “furtar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,649
- “fumar” frequency rank
- #31,387
- “furtar” frequency rank
- 36036
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fumar | furtar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | aspirar o fumo de | subtrair algo alheio sem uso de violência ou ameaça |
Where the eye mixes fumar and furtar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. fumar runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against furtar's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fumar with furtar
A purely visual mix-up. fumar (/fu.ˈmaɾ/) and furtar (/fuɾ.ˈtaɾ/) 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 36036, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fumar is recorded at frequency rank #4,649, classified as averb, pronounced /fu.ˈmaɾ/. furtar is at rank #31,387, tagged as averb, pronounced /fuɾ.ˈtaɾ/.
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 36036, this pair ranks #30,867 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fumar vs furtar
Shared letters: afru. Private to "fumar": m. Private to "furtar": t.
"fumar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "furtar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fumar" and "furtar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "fumar" or "furtar"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fumar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "furtar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #30,867 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fumar" and "furtar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fartar vs furtar". 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 #30,867 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.