Which to use
“fact” is a noun and “fai” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,912
- “fact” frequency rank
- #40,830
- “fai” frequency rank
- 71742
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fact | fai |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hecho. | Tercera persona del singular (el, ela, vostede) del presente de indicativo de facer. |
Where the eye mixes fact and fai
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. fact runs 4 letters (CVCC) against fai's 3 (CVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fact and fai
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fact is /fækt/ while fai is [ˈfa̠j]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71742, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fact is recorded at frequency rank #30,912, classified as anoun, pronounced /fækt/. fai is at rank #40,830, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈfa̠j].
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 71742, this pair ranks #26,848 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fact vs fai
Shared letters: af. Private to "fact": ct. Private to "fai": i.
"fact" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "fai" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- fact ← afct · facct · factt · fatc · fcat · ffact
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fact" and "fai" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "fact" vs "fai" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "fact" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fai" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #26,848 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fact" and "fai" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fai 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 #26,848 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.