Which to use
“trials” and “tribes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,198
- “trials” frequency rank
- #6,850
- “tribes” frequency rank
- 11048
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | trials | tribes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of trial | plural of tribe |
Where the eye mixes trials and tribes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between trials and tribes
A purely visual mix-up. trials (/ˈtɹaɪəlz/) and tribes (/tɹaɪbz/) 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 11048, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
trials is recorded at frequency rank #4,198, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɹaɪəlz/. tribes is at rank #6,850, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɹaɪbz/.
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 11048, this pair ranks #489,158 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of trials vs tribes
Shared letters: irst. Private to "trials": al. Private to "tribes": be.
"trials" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "tribes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "trials" and "tribes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "trials" or "tribes" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "trials" and "tribes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "trials" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tribes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #489,158 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "trials" and "tribes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Tiber vs tribes". 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 #489,158 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.