faivsfutWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,830
“fai” frequency rank
#39,242
“fut” frequency rank
80072
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fai fut
Definition Tercera persona del singular (el, ela, vostede) del presente de indicativo de facer. Pasado simple del modo indicativo del verbo être y para il/elle/on.

Where the eye mixes fai and fut

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. fai (CVV) and fut (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
fai
3 ch
fut

Look-alike desk: fai vs fut

A purely visual mix-up. fai ([ˈfa̠j]) and fut (/fy/) 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 80072, 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]. fut is at rank #39,242, tagged as averb, pronounced /fy/.

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 80072, this pair ranks #12,146 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fai vs fut

Shared letters: f. Private to "fai": ai. Private to "fut": tu.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fai" and "fut" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈfa̠j] versus /fy/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "fai" vs "fut" - which ranks higher?
"fut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,242 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

Eye-level mix-up between "fai" and "fut" 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 "fut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #12,146 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fai" and "fut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fuste vs fut". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #12,146 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