fatevsftwWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#35,761
“fate” frequency rank
#41,821
“ftw” frequency rank
77582
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fate ftw
Definition die (eher leidlichen) Dinge oder Umstände, die jemandem widerfahren; Geschick, Schicksal Abkürzung der Wendung for the win ^(→ en), die die Sympathie mit einer Sache ausdrückt

Letter map: fate vs ftw

Shared letters muted; letters that set fate and ftw apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
fate
3 ch
ftw

Grammar separator: fate vs ftw

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: fate is anoun and ftwanabbrev. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77582, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fate is recorded at frequency rank #35,761, classified as anoun, pronounced [feɪt]. 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 77582, this pair ranks #257,610 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of fate vs ftw

Shared letters: ft. Private to "fate": ae. Private to "ftw": w.

"fate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "ftw" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fateafte · fatte · ffate · ftae

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fate" and "ftw" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fate" is a noun and "ftw" an abbrev, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fate" or "ftw"?
"fate" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,761 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.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "fate" and "ftw".

  • Full dictionary entry for "fate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ftw" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #257,610 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fate" and "ftw" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fay vs ftw". 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 #257,610 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list