Which to use
“tales” and “tate” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,104
- “tales” frequency rank
- #10,945
- “tate” frequency rank
- 17049
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tales | tate |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of tale | Of video games, a vertical mode. |
Where the eye mixes tales and tate
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tales with tate
A purely visual mix-up. tales (/teɪlz/) and tate (/tɔːteɪ/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17049, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tales is recorded at frequency rank #6,104, classified as anoun, pronounced /teɪlz/. 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 17049, this pair ranks #453,940 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tales vs tate
Shared letters: aet. Private to "tales": ls. Private to "tate": -.
"tales" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "tate" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tales" and "tate" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "tales" vs "tate" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tales" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #453,940 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tales" and "tate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Taf vs tate". 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 #453,940 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.