faithvsfastWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: faith is a noun, fast is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“faith” is a noun and “fast” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,273
“faith” frequency rank
#16,583
“fast” frequency rank
41856
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature faith fast
Definition Confianza. Rápido, veloz.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set faith and fast apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
faith
4 ch
fast

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: faith is /feɪθ/ while fast is /fɑːst/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41856, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

faith is recorded at frequency rank #25,273, classified as anoun, pronounced /feɪθ/. fast is at rank #16,583, tagged as anadj, pronounced /fɑːst/.

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 41856, this pair ranks #151,408 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of faith vs fast

Shared letters: aft. Private to "faith": hi. Private to "fast": s.

"faith" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "fast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • faithafith · faiht · faithh · faitth · fatih · ffaith · fiath
  • fastafst · fasst · fastt · fats · ffast · fsat

Frequency comparison

faith#25,273
fast#16,583

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "faith" and "fast" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "faith" is a noun and "fast" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "faith" or "fast"?
"fast" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,583 in our Spanish list, against #25,273 for "faith". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering faith vs fast

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “faith”; for an adjective, it's “fast”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “faith” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list