fumarvsfusãoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#4,649
“fumar” frequency rank
#6,886
“fusão” frequency rank
11535
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fumar fusão
Definition aspirar o fumo de o fato de fundir

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fumar and fusão apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
fumar
5 ch
fusão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fumar is /fu.ˈmaɾ/ while fusão is /fu.ˈzɐ̃w̃/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11535, 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/. fusão is at rank #6,886, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fu.ˈzɐ̃w̃/.

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 11535, this pair ranks #61,289 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fumar vs fusão

Shared letters: fu. Private to "fumar": amr. Private to "fusão": osã.

"fumar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fusão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fumarffumar · fmuar · fuamr · fumarr · fummar · fumra · ufmar

Frequency comparison

fumar#4,649
fusão#6,886

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fumar" and "fusão" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fumar" is a verb and "fusão" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fumar" or "fusão"?
"fumar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,649 in our Portuguese list, against #6,886 for "fusão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fumar vs fusão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “fumar”; for a noun, it's “fusão”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fumar” 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