takevstateWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: take is a verb, tate is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“take” is a verb and “tate” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#128
“take” frequency rank
#10,945
“tate” frequency rank
11073
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature take tate
Definition To get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force. Of video games, a vertical mode.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set take and tate apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
take
4 ch
tate

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

take and tate form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - k in “take” becomes t in “tate” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11073, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

take is recorded at frequency rank #128, classified as averb, pronounced /teɪk/. tate is at rank #10,945, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɔːteɪ/.

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 11073, this pair ranks #489,029 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

take#128
tate#10,945

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "take" and "tate" be used interchangeably?
No, "take" and "tate" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering take vs tate

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list