Which to use
“take” and “takes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #128
- “take” frequency rank
- #683
- “takes” frequency rank
- 811
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | take | takes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force. | third-person singular simple present indicative of take |
Where the eye mixes take and takes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. take (/teɪk/) and takes (/teɪks/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “take” sits inside “takes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 811, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
take is recorded at frequency rank #128, classified as averb, pronounced /teɪk/. takes is at rank #683, tagged as averb, pronounced /teɪks/.
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 811, this pair ranks #528,738 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of take vs takes
Shared letters: aekt. Private to "take": -. Private to "takes": s.
"take" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "takes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC