taxesvstimesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“taxes” and “times” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,272
“taxes” frequency rank
#250
“times” frequency rank
2522
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature taxes times
Definition plural of tax plural of time

Where the eye mixes taxes and times

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
taxes
5 ch
times

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. taxes (/ˈtæksɪz/) and times (/taɪmz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2522, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

taxes is recorded at frequency rank #2,272, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtæksɪz/. times is at rank #250, tagged as anoun, pronounced /taɪmz/.

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 2522, this pair ranks #524,754 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of taxes vs times

Shared letters: est. Private to "taxes": ax. Private to "times": im.

"taxes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "times" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • taxesatxes · taexs · taxess · taxse · taxxes · ttaxes · txaes
  • timesitmes · tiems · timess · timmes · timse · tmies · ttimes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "taxes" and "times" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈtæksɪz/ versus /taɪmz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "taxes" or "times"?
"times" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #250 in our English list, against #2,272 for "taxes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list