You might have seen both ‘fair’ and ‘fare’ in your everyday life or in something you were reading. And you might have wondered what the difference is. And which should I use?
In short, the difference is:
These words are homophones, meaning they sound the same, but don’t mean the same thing. Therefore, you shouldn’t use them interchangeably.
We know that ‘fair’ refers to something either being just or right. But it might also refer to an event you might’ve attended with your family.
Fairs have rides, games, food, and all kinds of fun. You might see all kinds of vendors there, selling everything from corn dogs and cotton candy to pretzels and pie (yes, pie).
You might also have the opportunity to see farm animals at the fair, such as horses, cows, pigs, and chickens.
But ‘fare’ refers to the money you’re charged to do things like take a train, fly on an airplane, or go to your county fair.
Remember, these are homophones, which means they sound the same but have different meanings.
As we just explained, ‘fair’ refers to an event or to something that’s just or right.
For example, you might have heard someone say,
“Let’s go to the fair. I want to go on some rides and get some cotton candy.”
Or someone might say,
“Timmy took my water gun. That’s not fair!”
However, ‘fare’ refers specifically to money.
For example, you might hear someone say,
“The train fares have gone down since last month.”
Try not to confuse these two homophones because it will change the meaning of what you're trying to say.
According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of ‘fair’ is:
The other side of the definition is a gathering of buyers and sellers at a particular place and time for the trade, and a competitive exhibition, usually with accompanying entertainment and amusements.
The same dictionary defines 'fare' as:
Wondering how to pronounce these words? Here’s a quick guide.
To pronounce both words correctly, here’s the phonetic spelling:
fEUH
We know what the words mean and how to pronounce them. Let’s move on to using them in a sentence.
Take a look at some examples.
To recap, we learned that:
These words are homophones, meaning they sound the same, but don’t mean the same thing. Therefore, you shouldn’t use them interchangeably.
If you ever get stuck on anything, don’t be afraid to come back and review what you learned. We’ve also got a ton of other content on confusing words and phrases people usually have trouble with when they're learning the language.
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