fedvsflyWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,409
“fed” frequency rank
#30,917
“fly” frequency rank
50326
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fed fly
Definition Pasado simple del verbo (to) feed. Volar.

Where the eye mixes fed and fly

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
fed
3 ch
fly

Visual trap between fed and fly

A purely visual mix-up. fed (/fɛd/) and fly ([flaɪ]) 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 50326, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fed is recorded at frequency rank #19,409, classified as averb, pronounced /fɛd/. fly is at rank #30,917, tagged as averb, pronounced [flaɪ].

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 50326, this pair ranks #103,802 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fed vs fly

Shared letters: f. Private to "fed": de. Private to "fly": ly.

"fed" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "fly" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "fed" for "fly" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/fɛd/ versus [flaɪ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "fed" or "fly" show up more?
"fed" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,409 in our Spanish list, against #30,917 for "fly". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fly" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #103,802 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fed" and "fly" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "falo vs fly". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #103,802 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