Which to use
“fair” is an adjective and “four” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,104
- “fair” frequency rank
- #272
- “four” frequency rank
- 1376
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fair | four |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Beautiful, of a pleasing appearance, with a pure and fresh quality. | A numerical value equal to 4; the number after three and before five; two plus two. This many dots (••••) |
Where the eye mixes fair and four
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fair is /fɛə/ while four is /foɹ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1376, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fair is recorded at frequency rank #1,104, classified as anadj, pronounced /fɛə/. four is at rank #272, tagged as anum, pronounced /foɹ/.
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 1376, this pair ranks #527,563 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fair vs four
Shared letters: fr. Private to "fair": ai. Private to "four": ou.
"fair" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "four" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fair" and "four" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "fair" or "four"?
What to do next
You've compared "fair" and "four". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "fair" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "four" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #527,563 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fair" and "four" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fair vs flail". 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.