farvsfraWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: far is a adverb, fra is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“far” is an adverb and “fra” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,732
“far” frequency rank
#22,703
“fra” frequency rank
42435
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature far fra
Definition Lejos. Fray (antes de un nombre propio).

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
far
3 ch
fra

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

far and fra form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (ar ↔ ra) - a transposition the eye reads straight past - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

far is recorded at frequency rank #19,732, classified as anadv, pronounced /fɑː/. fra is at rank #22,703, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈfɾa].

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 42435, this pair ranks #148,221 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

far#19,732
fra#22,703

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "far" and "fra" be used interchangeably?
No, "far" and "fra" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering far vs fra

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “far”; for a noun, it's “fra”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “far” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list