fasvsfraConfusable pair

Which to use

“fas” and “fra” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#47,890
“fas” frequency rank
#14,045
“fra” frequency rank
61935
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fas fra
Definition Face, figure, visage. Frère.

Letter map: fas vs fra

Shared letters muted; letters that set fas and fra apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. fas (CVC) and fra (CCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
fas
3 ch
fra

Spelling & dictionary notes on fas vs fra

fas and fra are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61935, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fas is recorded at frequency rank #47,890, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈfasː\. fra is at rank #14,045, tagged as anoun.

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 61935, this pair ranks #89,673 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fas vs fra

Shared letters: af. Private to "fas": s. Private to "fra": r.

"fas" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "fra" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fas" and "fra" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "fas" vs "fra" - which ranks higher?
"fra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,045 in our French list, against #47,890 for "fas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "fas" vs "fra" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #89,673 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fas" and "fra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fas vs Fee". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #89,673 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list