fácilvsfailWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fácil is a adjective, fail is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fácil” is an adjective and “fail” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#485
“fácil” frequency rank
#30,476
“fail” frequency rank
30961
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fácil fail
Definition Que supone poco o ningún esfuerzo en su realización. Fracasar, fallar.

Where the eye mixes fácil and fail

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
fácil
4 ch
fail

Look-alike desk: fácil vs fail

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fácil is [ˈfasil] while fail is /feɪl/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30961, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fácil is recorded at frequency rank #485, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfasil]. fail is at rank #30,476, tagged as averb, pronounced /feɪl/.

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 30961, this pair ranks #209,465 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fácil vs fail

Shared letters: fil. Private to "fácil": . Private to "fail": a.

"fácil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fail" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • failafil · faill · fali · ffail

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fácil" and "fail" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fácil" is an adjective and "fail" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "fácil" or "fail" show up more?
"fácil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #485 in our Spanish list, against #30,476 for "fail". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fácil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fail" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #209,465 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fácil" and "fail" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fail vs falo". 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 #209,465 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list