faivsfedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“fai” and “fed” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#40,830
“fai” frequency rank
#19,409
“fed” frequency rank
60239
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fai fed
Definition Tercera persona del singular (el, ela, vostede) del presente de indicativo de facer. Pasado simple del verbo (to) feed.

Where the eye mixes fai and fed

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
fai
3 ch
fed

Look-alike desk: fai vs fed

A purely visual mix-up. fai ([ˈfa̠j]) and fed (/fɛd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60239, 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]. fed is at rank #19,409, tagged as averb, pronounced /fɛd/.

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 60239, this pair ranks #59,650 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fai vs fed

Shared letters: f. Private to "fai": ai. Private to "fed": de.

"fai" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "fed" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fai" for "fed" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfa̠j] versus /fɛd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "fai" or "fed" show up more?
"fed" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,409 in our Spanish list, against #40,830 for "fai". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "fai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #59,650 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fai" and "fed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fai vs falo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #59,650 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