fas vs fils, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#38,095
“fas” frequency rank: #49,670
“fils” frequency rank: 87765
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	fas	fils
Definition	2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs fasen	männlicher Nachkomme: Sohn

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch

fas

4 ch

fils

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fas is [faːs] while fils is [fis]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87765, 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]. fils is at rank #49,670, tagged as anoun, pronounced [fis].

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 87765, this pair ranks #76,258 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fas vs fils

Shared letters: fs. Private to "fas": a. Private to "fils": il.

"fas" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "fils" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

fils ← ffils · fills · filss · fisl · flis · ifls

Frequency comparison

fas#38,095

fils#49,670

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

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

"fas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,095 in our German list, against #49,670 for "fils". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fas vs fils

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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