English homophones
fee/fi
"fee" (#2,947 written frequency) beats "fi" (#4,603) in this 2-word /fiː/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /fiː/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "fee" leads at #2,947, with "fi" trailing at #4,603.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- No shared spelling stem: "fee" is 3 letters, "fi" is 2; only the sound ties them.
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across fee, fi: f. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
fee
3 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVV
Inventory ef · private e
fi
2 letters · 1 vowels · shape CV
Inventory fi · private i
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "fee" when you mean: An amount charged for a privilege.
- Write "fi" when you mean: The solfeggio syllable used to indicate the sharp of the fourth note of a major scale.
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (fee, fi). Here's where to go from here.
- "fee" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #2,947 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: fam · Pham. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "fee, fi" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.