Which to use
“fil” and “fine” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,124
- “fil” frequency rank
- #20,686
- “fine” frequency rank
- 58810
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fil | fine |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Elefante. | Multa. |
Where the eye mixes fil and fine
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. fil runs 3 letters (CVC) against fine's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: fil vs fine
A purely visual mix-up. fil ([ˈfil]) and fine (/faɪn/) 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 58810, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fil is recorded at frequency rank #38,124, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈfil]. fine is at rank #20,686, tagged as anoun, pronounced /faɪn/.
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 58810, this pair ranks #65,060 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of fil vs fine
Shared letters: fi. Private to "fil": l. Private to "fine": en.
"fil" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "fine" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- fine ← ffine · fien · finne · fnie · ifne
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fil" and "fine" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "fil" vs "fine" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "fil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #65,060 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fil" and "fine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fil vs filos". 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 #65,060 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.