fewvsfezWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: few is a adjective, fez is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“few” is an adjective and “fez” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,283
“few” frequency rank
#203
“fez” frequency rank
38486
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature few fez
Definition pouco; poucos barrete em forma de cone truncado (usado por alguns muçulmanos)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set few and fez apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
few
3 ch
fez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: few is anadjective and fezanoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - w in “few” becomes z in “fez”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38486, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

few is recorded at frequency rank #38,283, classified as anadj. fez is at rank #203, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfes/.

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 38486, this pair ranks #27,964 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of few vs fez

Shared letters: ef. Private to "few": w. Private to "fez": z.

"few" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "fez" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

few#38,283
fez#203

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "few" and "fez" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "few" is an adjective and "fez" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "few" or "fez"?
"fez" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #203 in our Portuguese list, against #38,283 for "few". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering few vs fez

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “few”; for a noun, it's “fez”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “few” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list