facevsfacesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#8,118
“face” frequency rank
#48,402
“faces” frequency rank
56520
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature face faces
Definition Variante obsoleta de hace. Forma del plural de faz.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set face and faces apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
face
5 ch
faces

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: face is [ˈfase] while faces is [ˈfases]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “face” sits inside “faces”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56520, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

face is recorded at frequency rank #8,118, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfase]. faces is at rank #48,402, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfases].

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 56520, this pair ranks #74,290 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of face vs faces

Shared letters: acef. Private to "face": -. Private to "faces": s.

"face" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "faces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • faceafce · facce · faec · fcae · fface
  • facesafces · facces · facess · facse · faecs · fcaes · ffaces

Frequency comparison

face#8,118
faces#48,402

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "face" and "faces" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "face" is a verb and "faces" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "face" or "faces"?
"face" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,118 in our Spanish list, against #48,402 for "faces". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering face vs faces

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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