tabiquevstanqueTell them apart

Which to use

“tabique” and “tanque” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#40,564
“tabique” frequency rank
#6,363
“tanque” frequency rank
46927
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tabique tanque
Definition Pared ligera que separa dos habitaciones o dos espacios. Contenedor grande destinado a almacenar líquidos o gases.

Where the eye mixes tabique and tanque

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
tabique
6 ch
tanque

Look-alike desk: tabique vs tanque

A purely visual mix-up. tabique ([t̪aˈβ̞ike]) and tanque ([ˈt̪ãŋke]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46927, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tabique is recorded at frequency rank #40,564, classified as anoun, pronounced [t̪aˈβ̞ike]. tanque is at rank #6,363, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪ãŋke].

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 46927, this pair ranks #122,952 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tabique vs tanque

Shared letters: aeqtu. Private to "tabique": bi. Private to "tanque": n.

"tabique" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "tanque" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tabiqueatbique · tabbique · tabiqeu · tabiqque · tabiuqe · tabqiue · taibque · tavique
  • tanqueatnque · tannque · tanqeu · tanqque · tanuqe · taqnue · tnaque · ttanque

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tabique" and "tanque" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([t̪aˈβ̞ike] versus [ˈt̪ãŋke]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tabique" or "tanque"?
"tanque" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,363 in our Spanish list, against #40,564 for "tabique". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tabique" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tanque" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #122,952 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tabique" and "tanque" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tanque vs torque". 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 #122,952 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list