Which to use
“fai” and “fail” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,830
- “fai” frequency rank
- #30,476
- “fail” frequency rank
- 71306
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fai | fail |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (el, ela, vostede) del presente de indicativo de facer. | Fracasar, fallar. |
Where the eye mixes fai and fail
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fai runs 3 letters (CVV) against fail's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between fai and fail
A purely visual mix-up. fai ([ˈfa̠j]) and fail (/feɪl/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “fai” sits inside “fail”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fai is recorded at frequency rank #40,830, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈfa̠j]. 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 71306, this pair ranks #27,813 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fai vs fail
Shared letters: afi. Private to "fai": -. Private to "fail": l.
"fai" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "fail" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fail ← afil · faill · fali · ffail
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fai" and "fail" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "fai" or "fail" show up more?
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 "fai" 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 #27,813 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fai" and "fail" 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 #27,813 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.