fumovsfundoTell them apart

Quick tell: fumo is a noun, fundo is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#6,658
“fumo” frequency rank
#850
“fundo” frequency rank
7508
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fumo fundo
Definition mistura complexa de gases, vapores e partículas em suspensão que se desprendem dos corpos aquecidos ou em combustão que está abaixo da superfície ou do nível; que tem profundidade; que adentra

Where the eye mixes fumo and fundo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
fumo
5 ch
fundo

Visual trap between fumo and fundo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fumo is /ˈfu.mu/ while fundo is /ˈfũ.du/. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7508, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fumo is recorded at frequency rank #6,658, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfu.mu/. fundo is at rank #850, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈfũ.du/.

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 7508, this pair ranks #66,610 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fumo vs fundo

Shared letters: fou. Private to "fumo": m. Private to "fundo": dn.

"fumo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "fundo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fumoffumo · fmuo · fummo · fuom · ufmo
  • fundoffundo · fnudo · fudno · funddo · funndo · funod · ufndo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fumo" for "fundo" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fumo" is a noun and "fundo" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "fumo" vs "fundo" - which ranks higher?
"fundo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #850 in our Portuguese list, against #6,658 for "fumo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fumo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fundo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #66,610 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fumo" and "fundo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "favo vs fumo". 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 #66,610 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