fácilvsfairWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“fácil” and “fair” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#464
“fácil” frequency rank
#12,248
“fair” frequency rank
12712
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fácil fair
Definition diz-se do que não é nem duro nem difícil de se realizar, daquilo que não exige muito trabalho ou esforço justo

Where the eye mixes fácil and fair

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. fácil runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against fair's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
fácil
4 ch
fair

Look-alike desk: fácil vs fair

A purely visual mix-up. fácil (/ˈfa.siɫ/) and fair (/fɛːɐ̯/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) 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 12712, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fácil is recorded at frequency rank #464, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈfa.siɫ/. fair is at rank #12,248, tagged as anadj, pronounced /fɛːɐ̯/ ouvir^(fonte ?).

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 12712, this pair ranks #59,798 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fácil vs fair

Shared letters: fi. Private to "fácil": clá. Private to "fair": ar.

"fácil" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "fair" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fair ← afir · fairr · fari · ffair · fiar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fácil" and "fair" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈfa.siɫ/ versus /fɛːɐ̯/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "fácil" or "fair"?
"fácil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #464 in our Portuguese list, against #12,248 for "fair". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "fácil" and "fair" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "fácil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "fair" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #59,798 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fácil" and "fair" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fair vs fava". 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 #59,798 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list