Which to use
“tale” is a noun and “told” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,304
- “tale” frequency rank
- #44,284
- “told” frequency rank
- 76588
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tale | told |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bericht | Präteritum (simple past) des Verbs tell |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tale and told apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tale is [ˈteɪl] while told is [təʊld]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76588, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tale is recorded at frequency rank #32,304, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈteɪl]. told is at rank #44,284, tagged as averb, pronounced [təʊld].
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 76588, this pair ranks #280,405 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tale vs told
Shared letters: lt. Private to "tale": ae. Private to "told": do.
"tale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "told" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tale" and "told" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "tale" or "told"?
Remembering tale vs told
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “tale”; for a verb, it's “told”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tale” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable