fanningvsfaringWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#25,055
“fanning” frequency rank
#43,152
“faring” frequency rank
68207
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fanning faring
Definition present participle and gerund of fan An adventure, trek, journey.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fanning and faring apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
fanning
6 ch
faring

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: fanning is averb and faringanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fanning is recorded at frequency rank #25,055, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈfænɪŋ/. faring is at rank #43,152, tagged as anoun.

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 68207, this pair ranks #59,930 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fanning vs faring

Shared letters: afgin. Private to "fanning": -. Private to "faring": r.

"fanning" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "faring" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fanningafnning · faning · faninng · fannign · fanningg · fanninng · fannnig · ffanning
  • faringafring · fairng · farign · faringg · farinng · farnig · farring · ffaring

Frequency comparison

fanning#25,055
faring#43,152

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fanning" and "faring" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fanning" is a verb and "faring" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fanning" or "faring"?
"fanning" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,055 in our English list, against #43,152 for "faring". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fanning vs faring

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “fanning”; for a noun, it's “faring”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fanning” 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