Which to use
“tells” is a verb and “Tess” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,740
- “tells” frequency rank
- #21,679
- “Tess” frequency rank
- 23419
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tells | Tess |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of tell | A diminutive of the female given name Teresa. |
Where the eye mixes tells and Tess
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tells runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against Tess's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tells with Tess
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tells is /tɛlz/ while Tess is /tɛs/. 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 name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23419, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tells is recorded at frequency rank #1,740, classified as averb, pronounced /tɛlz/. Tess is at rank #21,679, tagged as aname, pronounced /tɛs/.
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 23419, this pair ranks #409,406 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tells vs Tess
Shared letters: est. Private to "tells": l. Private to "Tess": -.
"tells" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "Tess" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tells" and "Tess" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "tells" or "Tess"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "tells" and "Tess" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tells" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Tess" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #409,406 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tells" and "Tess" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tass vs Tess". 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 #409,406 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.