fastvsFSJWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fast is a adverb, FSJ is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fast” is an adverb and “FSJ” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#243
“fast” frequency rank
#32,537
“FSJ” frequency rank
32780
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fast FSJ
Definition nicht ganz Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr / freiwilliges soziales Jahr

Where the eye mixes fast and FSJ

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

4 ch
fast
3 ch
FSJ

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fast is [fast] while FSJ is [ɛfʔɛsˈjɔt]. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32780, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fast is recorded at frequency rank #243, classified as anadv, pronounced [fast]. FSJ is at rank #32,537, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ɛfʔɛsˈjɔt].

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 32780, this pair ranks #1,700,191 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fast vs FSJ

Shared letters: fs. Private to "fast": at. Private to "FSJ": j.

"fast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "FSJ" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fastafst · fastt · fats · ffast · fsat

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fast" and "FSJ" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fast" is an adverb and "FSJ" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fast" or "FSJ"?
"fast" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #243 in our German list, against #32,537 for "FSJ". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "fast" and "FSJ". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fast" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "FSJ" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,700,191 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fast" and "FSJ" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fist vs FSJ". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list