fas vs Fax, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#38,095
“fas” frequency rank: #12,705
“Fax” frequency rank: 50800
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	fas	Fax
Definition	2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fasen	per Telefonleitung übermitteltes Dokument, Schriftstück, Foto oder Zeichnung

Where the eye mixes fas and Fax

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch

fas

3 ch

Fax

Why the eye confuses fas with Fax

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fas is [faːs] while Fax is [faks]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - s in “fas” becomes x in “Fax”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50800, 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]. Fax is at rank #12,705, tagged as anoun, pronounced [faks].

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 50800, this pair ranks #1,159,959 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fas vs Fax

Shared letters: af. Private to "fas": s. Private to "Fax": x.

"fas" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "Fax" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

In ordinary German text, does "fas" or "Fax" show up more?

"Fax" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,705 in our German list, against #38,095 for "fas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "fas" and "Fax" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

Full dictionary entry for "fas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "Fax" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #1,159,959 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"fas" and "Fax" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fas vs fist". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,159,959 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.