FatesvsFESWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Fates is a name, FES is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Fates” is a name and “FES” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,966
“Fates” frequency rank
#39,812
“FES” frequency rank
62778
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Fates FES
Definition Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis; supernatural beings who controlled the destiny of men and of the gods. Initialism of floppy eyelid syndrome

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Fates and FES apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Fates
3 ch
FES

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Fates is aname and FESanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62778, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Fates is recorded at frequency rank #22,966, classified as aname, pronounced /feɪts/. FES is at rank #39,812, tagged as anoun.

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 62778, this pair ranks #86,576 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Fates vs FES

Shared letters: efs. Private to "Fates": at. Private to "FES": -.

"Fates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "FES" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Fatesaftes · faets · fatess · fatse · fattes · ffates · ftaes

Frequency comparison

Fates#22,966
FES#39,812

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Fates" and "FES" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Fates" is a name and "FES" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Fates" or "FES"?
"Fates" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,966 in our English list, against #39,812 for "FES". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Fates vs FES

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Fates”; for a noun, it's “FES”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Fates” 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