fai vs fría, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#40,830
“fai” frequency rank: #3,183
“fría” frequency rank: 44013
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	fai	fría
Definition	Tercera persona del singular (el, ela, vostede) del presente de indicativo de facer.	Cerveza.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fai and fría apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

fai

4 ch

fría

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fai is [ˈfa̠j] while fría is [ˈfɾia]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44013, 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]. fría is at rank #3,183, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɾia].

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 44013, this pair ranks #139,408 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fai vs fría

Shared letters: af. Private to "fai": i. Private to "fría": rí.

"fai" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "fría" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Frequency comparison

fai#40,830

fría#3,183

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fai" and "fría" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fai" is a verb and "fría" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "fai" or "fría"?

"fría" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,183 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.

Remembering fai vs fría

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “fai”; for a noun, it's “fría”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fai” entry
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