Which to use
“fans” and “fees” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #989
- “fans” frequency rank
- #2,831
- “fees” frequency rank
- 3820
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fans | fees |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of fan | plural of fee |
Where the eye mixes fans and fees
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. fans (/fænz/) and fees (/fiːz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3820, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fans is recorded at frequency rank #989, classified as anoun, pronounced /fænz/. fees is at rank #2,831, tagged as anoun, pronounced /fiːz/.
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 3820, this pair ranks #520,892 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of fans vs fees
Shared letters: fs. Private to "fans": an. Private to "fees": e.
"fans" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "fees" · 4 letters · shape CVVC