Which to use
“fai” and “faire” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,830
- “fai” frequency rank
- #38,702
- “faire” frequency rank
- 79532
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fai | faire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (el, ela, vostede) del presente de indicativo de facer. | Hacer. |
Where the eye mixes fai and faire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. fai runs 3 letters (CVV) against faire's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fai vs faire
A purely visual mix-up. fai ([ˈfa̠j]) and faire ([fɛʁ]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “fai” sits inside “faire”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79532, 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]. faire is at rank #38,702, tagged as averb, pronounced [fɛʁ].
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 79532, this pair ranks #12,870 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fai vs faire
Shared letters: afi. Private to "fai": -. Private to "faire": er.
"fai" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "faire" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- faire ← afire · faier · fairre · farie · ffaire · fiare
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fai" and "faire" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "fai" or "faire"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "fai" and "faire" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "faire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #12,870 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fai" and "faire" 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 #12,870 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.