farvsftwWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: far is a noun, ftw is an abbrev, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“far” is a noun and “ftw” is an abbrev - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#16,418
“far” frequency rank
#41,821
“ftw” frequency rank
58239
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature far ftw
Definition Vater Abkürzung der Wendung for the win ^(→ en), die die Sympathie mit einer Sache ausdrückt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set far and ftw apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
far
3 ch
ftw

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: far is anoun and ftwanabbrev. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58239, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

far is recorded at frequency rank #16,418, classified as anoun, pronounced [faː]. ftw is at rank #41,821, tagged as anabbrev.

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 58239, this pair ranks #870,462 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of far vs ftw

Shared letters: f. Private to "far": ar. Private to "ftw": tw.

"far" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "ftw" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Frequency comparison

far#16,418
ftw#41,821

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "far" and "ftw" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "far" is a noun and "ftw" an abbrev, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "far" or "ftw"?
"far" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,418 in our German list, against #41,821 for "ftw". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering far vs ftw

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “far”; for an abbrev, it's “ftw”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “far” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list