# Tans vs tar

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### Tans
*noun · frequency rank #43,954*
The Black and Tans, a British irregular army group operating against Irish republicans in the War of Independence 1920/21.

### tar
*noun · IPA /tɑː/ · frequency rank #12,515*
A black, oily, sticky, viscous substance, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons derived from organic materials such as wood, peat, or coal.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tans-vs-tar