table vs taxable, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“table” is a noun and “taxable” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#958
“table” frequency rank: #18,447
“taxable” frequency rank: 19405
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	table	taxable
Definition	Furniture with a top surface to accommodate a variety of uses.	That can be taxed.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set table and taxable apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

table

7 ch

taxable

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: table is /ˈteɪbl̩/ while taxable is /ˈtæksəbəl/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19405, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

table is recorded at frequency rank #958, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈteɪbl̩/. taxable is at rank #18,447, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈtæksəbəl/.

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 19405, this pair ranks #438,411 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of table vs taxable

Shared letters: abelt. Private to "table": -. Private to "taxable": x.

"table" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "taxable" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

table ← atble · tabble · tabel · tablle · talbe · tbale · tible · ttable
taxable ← atxable · taaxble · taxabble · taxabel · taxablle · taxalbe · taxbale · taxible

Frequency comparison

table#958

taxable#18,447

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "table" and "taxable" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "table" is a noun and "taxable" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "table" or "taxable"?

"table" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #958 in our English list, against #18,447 for "taxable". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering table vs taxable

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “table”; for an adjective, it's “taxable”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “table” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable