Sometimes it is reported in newspapers that a man involved in a fatal accident was admitted to the local hospital. You wonder why because anything that is fatal always results in the death of an individual.
*Dilip’s decision to walk across the frozen lake proved fatal. The sentence suggests that Dilip drowned in the lake.
`Fatal’ can be used with abstract things as well. For example, one can say, “The sloppy manner in which Akshay did the project proved fatal to his career.” “The article in the tabloids about the star’s wild parties proved fatal to his marriage.” In both these sentences, the word is used to mean disastrous or destructive.
Fateful is related to fate. When you talk about a fateful day, you mean that it was a day that changed your future or your destiny — the outcome is usually bad.
*Ganguly will always remember the fateful day he went to the press to complain about his new coach.
Source: The Hindu ‘Know Your English’ Series, November 28, 2005.
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