Which to use
“fails” is a verb and “Fells” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,600
- “fails” frequency rank
- #45,926
- “Fells” frequency rank
- 50526
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fails | Fells |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of fail | A surname. |
Letter map: fails vs Fells
Shared letters muted; letters that set fails and Fells apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. fails (CVVCC) and Fells (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Part-of-speech tell for fails / Fells
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: fails is averb and Fellsaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50526, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fails is recorded at frequency rank #4,600, classified as averb, pronounced /feɪlz/. Fells is at rank #45,926, tagged as aname.
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 50526, this pair ranks #173,486 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fails vs Fells
Shared letters: fls. Private to "fails": ai. Private to "Fells": e.
"fails" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "Fells" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fails" and "Fells" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fails" vs "Fells" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "fails" and "Fells". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "fails" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Fells" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #173,486 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fails" and "Fells" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "feely vs Fells". 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
Confusion rank #173,486 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.