fayvsfazWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fay is a noun, faz is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#46,636
“fay” frequency rank
#7,043
“faz” frequency rank
53679
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fay faz
Definition eine Fee 3. Person Singular Präsens Indikativ des Verbs fazer

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
fay
3 ch
faz

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fay is [feɪ] while faz is [fa(j)s]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - y in “fay” becomes z in “faz”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53679, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fay is recorded at frequency rank #46,636, classified as anoun, pronounced [feɪ]. faz is at rank #7,043, tagged as averb, pronounced [fa(j)s].

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 53679, this pair ranks #1,048,623 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fay vs faz

Shared letters: af. Private to "fay": y. Private to "faz": z.

"fay" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "faz" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

fay#46,636
faz#7,043

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fay" and "faz" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fay" is a noun and "faz" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fay" or "faz"?
"faz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,043 in our German list, against #46,636 for "fay". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fay vs faz

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list