fundarvsfurarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“fundar” and “furar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,778
“fundar” frequency rank
#14,378
“furar” frequency rank
31156
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fundar furar
Definition estabelecer abrir furo, buraco ou rombo em; cavar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fundar and furar apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
fundar
5 ch
furar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. fundar (/fũ.ˈdaɾ/) and furar (/fu.ˈɾaɾ/) 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 31156, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fundar is recorded at frequency rank #16,778, classified as averb, pronounced /fũ.ˈdaɾ/. furar is at rank #14,378, tagged as averb, pronounced /fu.ˈɾaɾ/.

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 31156, this pair ranks #37,018 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fundar vs furar

Shared letters: afru. Private to "fundar": dn. Private to "furar": -.

"fundar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "furar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fundarffundar · fnudar · fudnar · funadr · fundarr · funddar · fundra · funndar
  • furarffurar · fruar · fuarr · furarr · furra · furrar · ufrar

Frequency comparison

fundar#16,778
furar#14,378

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fundar" and "furar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/fũ.ˈdaɾ/ versus /fu.ˈɾaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fundar" or "furar"?
"furar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,378 in our Portuguese list, against #16,778 for "fundar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fundar vs furar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fundar” 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