<strong>Faith</strong> is trust or belief that you choose to place in someone or something — "I have faith in the surgeon" or "She lost her faith after the accident." <strong>Fate</strong> is what is supposed to happen to you whether you want it or not — "That mistake sealed his fate" or "They left the decision to fate." Faith is yours to give; fate is done to you.
The core difference
These two nouns look and sound similar enough to swap by accident, but they sit on opposite sides of the question of control. Faith is an act of the believer: you extend it, keep it, or lose it. Fate is an outcome imposed from outside: the course events were always going to take, regardless of what anyone believed.
Using faith
Faith works with in, and it takes verbs like have, keep, lose, restore and shake.
- I have complete faith in the team.
- The delays shook my faith in the contractor.
- She kept faith with her old suppliers when times were hard.
- He was raised in the Catholic faith.
That last example shows the second sense: a faith is also a religion or a system of belief. "People of all faiths" means people of all religions.
Using fate
Fate takes verbs like seal, decide, meet, accept and tempt, and it usually appears with the definite article or none at all.
- The missed penalty sealed their fate.
- We still don't know the fate of the second application.
- She met the same fate as her predecessor.
- Don't tempt fate by booking the outdoor venue.
Note the everyday, non-mystical use in the third and second examples: fate often just means "what happened to something", as in "the fate of the building".
The test
Try swapping in trust. If "trust" fits the slot, you want faith: "I have trust in the surgeon" works. Then try swapping in destiny or outcome. If either fits, you want fate: "that sealed his outcome" is clumsy but comprehensible, whereas "that sealed his trust" is nonsense.
The mistake people actually make
By far the most common error is writing "sealed his faith" for sealed his fate. It appears constantly in sports reporting and casual writing. The phrase means his doom was fixed, so it can only be fate. The same goes for "a twist of fate", "a cruel fate" and "tempting fate".
The other direction is rarer but happens with the phrase "in good faith", sometimes miswritten as "in good fate". "In good faith" means honestly and without intent to deceive — a legal and commercial staple.
Watch the near neighbours
Two more words crowd this space: fete (a village fair, or to honour someone) and fated (destined, as in "the project was fated to fail"). A spellchecker will not catch any of these swaps, because every one of them is a real word.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it "sealed his fate" or "sealed his faith"?
Sealed his fate. The phrase means his final outcome was fixed and unavoidable, which is fate, not belief. "Sealed his faith" is a very common typo with no real meaning.
Can something be a "leap of fate"?
No — it is a leap of faith, meaning you commit to something without proof it will work. "Leap of fate" is an eggcorn, not an alternative spelling.
Do faith and fate ever mean the same thing?
No. The nearest they come is in phrases about the future, but even there they differ: having faith in an outcome is your belief about it, while its fate is what actually happens.