Which to use
“take” is a verb and “tape” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #128
- “take” frequency rank
- #3,398
- “tape” frequency rank
- 3526
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | take | tape |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force. | Flexible material in a roll with a sticky surface on one or both sides; adhesive tape. |
Where the eye mixes take and tape
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: take is /teɪk/ while tape is /teɪ̯p/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - k in “take” becomes p in “tape”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3526, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
take is recorded at frequency rank #128, classified as averb, pronounced /teɪk/. tape is at rank #3,398, tagged as anoun, pronounced /teɪ̯p/.
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 3526, this pair ranks #521,848 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of take vs tape
Shared letters: aet. Private to "take": k. Private to "tape": p.
"take" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "tape" · 4 letters · shape CVCV