Which to use
“fair” is an adjective and “fast” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,248
- “fair” frequency rank
- #8,052
- “fast” frequency rank
- 20300
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fair | fast |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | justo | quase |
Where the eye mixes fair and fast
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses fair with fast
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fair is /fɛːɐ̯/ ouvir^(fonte ?) while fast 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20300, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fair is recorded at frequency rank #12,248, classified as anadj, pronounced /fɛːɐ̯/ ouvir^(fonte ?). fast is at rank #8,052, tagged as anadv, 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 20300, this pair ranks #50,240 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fair vs fast
Shared letters: af. Private to "fair": ir. Private to "fast": st.
"fair" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "fast" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "fair" and "fast" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "fair" or "fast" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "fair" and "fast" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "fair" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fast" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #50,240 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fair" and "fast" 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 #50,240 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.