faivsfeoConfusable pair

Quick tell: fai is a verb, feo is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#40,830
“fai” frequency rank
#3,556
“feo” frequency rank
44386
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fai feo
Definition Tercera persona del singular (el, ela, vostede) del presente de indicativo de facer. Que carece de belleza o hermosura.

Where the eye mixes fai and feo

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

3 ch
fai
3 ch
feo

Look-alike desk: fai vs feo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fai is [ˈfa̠j] while feo is [ˈfeo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44386, 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]. feo is at rank #3,556, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈfeo].

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 44386, this pair ranks #137,371 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fai vs feo

Shared letters: f. Private to "fai": ai. Private to "feo": eo.

"fai" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "feo" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fai" for "feo" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fai" is a verb and "feo" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fai" or "feo"?
"feo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,556 in our Spanish list, against #40,830 for "fai". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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 "feo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #137,371 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fai" and "feo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fai vs falo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #137,371 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