Which to use
“take” is a verb and “taxes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #128
- “take” frequency rank
- #2,272
- “taxes” frequency rank
- 2400
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | take | taxes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force. | plural of tax |
Where the eye mixes take and taxes
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 taxes is /ˈtæksɪz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2400, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
take is recorded at frequency rank #128, classified as averb, pronounced /teɪk/. taxes is at rank #2,272, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtæksɪz/.
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 2400, this pair ranks #525,067 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of take vs taxes
Shared letters: aet. Private to "take": k. Private to "taxes": sx.
"take" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "taxes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC