Which to use
“fas” is a verb and “faul” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,095
- “fas” frequency rank
- #5,826
- “faul” frequency rank
- 43921
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fas | faul |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fasen | nicht mehr frisch; verrottet, verfault |
Where the eye mixes fas and faul
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. fas runs 3 letters (CVC) against faul's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fas vs faul
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fas is [faːs] while faul is [faʊ̯l]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43921, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fas is recorded at frequency rank #38,095, classified as averb, pronounced [faːs]. faul is at rank #5,826, tagged as anadj, pronounced [faʊ̯l].
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 43921, this pair ranks #1,402,757 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fas vs faul
Shared letters: af. Private to "fas": s. Private to "faul": lu.
"fas" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "faul" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- faul ← aful · falu · faull · ffaul · fual
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "fas" for "faul" ever safe?
Which is more common, "fas" or "faul"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "faul" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,402,757 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fas" and "faul" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fas vs fist". 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 #1,402,757 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.