Which to use
“fail” and “fails” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,441
- “fail” frequency rank
- #4,600
- “fails” frequency rank
- 7041
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fail | fails |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To be unsuccessful. | third-person singular simple present indicative of fail |
Where the eye mixes fail and fails
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. fail (/feɪl/) and fails (/feɪlz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “fail” sits inside “fails”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7041, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fail is recorded at frequency rank #2,441, classified as averb, pronounced /feɪl/. fails is at rank #4,600, tagged as averb, pronounced /feɪlz/.
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 7041, this pair ranks #508,835 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fail vs fails
Shared letters: afil. Private to "fail": -. Private to "fails": s.
"fail" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "fails" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC