Which to use
“tell” and “tells” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #277
- “tell” frequency rank
- #1,740
- “tells” frequency rank
- 2017
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tell | tells |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mental senses related to determining, reckoning, or perceiving | third-person singular simple present indicative of tell |
Where the eye mixes tell and tells
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tell runs 4 letters (CVCC) against tells's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: tell vs tells
A purely visual mix-up. tell ([tʰɔː]) and tells (/tɛlz/) 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 extra letter(s) - “tell” sits inside “tells”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2017, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tell is recorded at frequency rank #277, classified as averb, pronounced [tʰɔː]. tells is at rank #1,740, tagged as averb, pronounced /tɛlz/.
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 2017, this pair ranks #526,064 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tell vs tells
Shared letters: elt. Private to "tell": -. Private to "tells": s.
"tell" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "tells" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tell" and "tells" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "tell" vs "tells" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tell" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tells" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #526,064 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tell" and "tells" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tells vs trellis". 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 #526,064 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.