Which to use
“fail” and “fis” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,476
- “fail” frequency rank
- #37,094
- “fis” frequency rank
- 67570
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fail | fis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fracasar, fallar. | Primera persona del singular (je) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de faire. |
Where the eye mixes fail and fis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. fail runs 4 letters (CVVC) against fis's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses fail with fis
A purely visual mix-up. fail (/feɪl/) and fis ([fi]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67570, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fail is recorded at frequency rank #30,476, classified as averb, pronounced /feɪl/. fis is at rank #37,094, tagged as averb, pronounced [fi].
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 67570, this pair ranks #36,769 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fail vs fis
Shared letters: fi. Private to "fail": al. Private to "fis": s.
"fail" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "fis" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- fail ← afil · faill · fali · ffail
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fail" and "fis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "fail" or "fis" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "fail" and "fis" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fail" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #36,769 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fail" and "fis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filos vs fis". 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 #36,769 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.