English homophones
fate/fete
"fate" (#3,880 written frequency) beats "fete" (#42,639) in this 2-word /feɪt/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /feɪt/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "fate" leads at #3,880, with "fete" trailing at #42,639.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- No shared spelling stem: "fate" is 4 letters, "fete" is 4; only the sound ties them.
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across fate, fete: eft. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
fate
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCV
Inventory aeft · private a
fete
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCV
Inventory eft · no private letters vs siblings
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "fate" when you mean: The presumed cause, force, principle, or divine will that predetermines events.
- Write "fete" when you mean: A festival open to the public, the proceeds from which are often given to charity.
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (fate, fete). Here's where to go from here.
- "fate" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #3,880 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: fins · Finns. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "fate, fete" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.