Which to use
“tailing” is a noun and “telling” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,442
- “tailing” frequency rank
- #1,288
- “telling” frequency rank
- 43730
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tailing | telling |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of following someone. | present participle and gerund of tell |
Letter map: tailing vs telling
Shared letters muted; letters that set tailing and telling apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.
Grammar separator: tailing vs telling
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tailing is anoun and tellingaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43730, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tailing is recorded at frequency rank #42,442, classified as anoun. telling is at rank #1,288, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈtɛlɪŋ/.
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 43730, this pair ranks #237,207 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tailing vs telling
Shared letters: gilnt. Private to "tailing": a. Private to "telling": e.
"tailing" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "telling" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tailing" and "telling" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "tailing" or "telling" show up more?
What to do next
Pair "tailing" vs "telling" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "tailing" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "telling" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #237,207 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tailing" and "telling" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tailing vs toiling". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #237,207 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.