feavsfedWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fea is a adjective, fed is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fea” is an adjective and “fed” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,731
“fea” frequency rank
#19,409
“fed” frequency rank
25140
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fea fed
Definition Forma del femenino singular de feo. Pasado simple del verbo (to) feed.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
fea
3 ch
fed

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

fea and fed 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 by a single letter - a in “fea” becomes d in “fed” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25140, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fea is recorded at frequency rank #5,731, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈfea]. fed is at rank #19,409, tagged as averb, pronounced /fɛd/.

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 25140, this pair ranks #237,820 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

fea#5,731
fed#19,409

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fea" and "fed" be used interchangeably?
No, "fea" and "fed" 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 fea vs fed

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “fea”; for a verb, it's “fed”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fea” 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