fair vs fas, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“fair” is an adjective and “fas” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,310
“fair” frequency rank: #38,095
“fas” frequency rank: 41405
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	fair	fas
Definition	den Regeln, Richtlinien entsprechend	2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fasen

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

fair

3 ch

fas

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fair is [fɛːɐ̯] while fas is [faːs]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41405, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fair is recorded at frequency rank #3,310, classified as anadj, pronounced [fɛːɐ̯]. fas is at rank #38,095, tagged as averb, pronounced [faːs].

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 41405, this pair ranks #1,480,454 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fair vs fas

Shared letters: af. Private to "fair": ir. Private to "fas": s.

"fair" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "fas" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

fair ← afir · fairr · fari · ffair · fiar

Frequency comparison

fair#3,310

fas#38,095

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fair" and "fas" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fair" is an adjective and "fas" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "fair" or "fas"?

"fair" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,310 in our German list, against #38,095 for "fas". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering fair vs fas

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “fair”; for a verb, it's “fas”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fair” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable