Which to use
“faires” is an adjective and “fastes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,749
- “faires” frequency rank
- #36,387
- “fastes” frequency rank
- 83136
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | faires | fastes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Accusatif neutre singulier de la déclinaison forte de fair. | Tables ou livres du calendrier où étaient indiqués les jours de fêtes, d’assemblées publiques, de jeux. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set faires and fastes apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: faires is \ˈfɛːʁəs\ while fastes is \fast\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83136, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
faires is recorded at frequency rank #46,749, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈfɛːʁəs\. fastes is at rank #36,387, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fast\.
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 83136, this pair ranks #15,394 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of faires vs fastes
Shared letters: aefs. Private to "faires": ir. Private to "fastes": t.
"faires" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "fastes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "faires" and "fastes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "faires" or "fastes"?
Remembering faires vs fastes
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “faires”; for a noun, it's “fastes”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “faires” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable