tablasvstabúesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,362
“tablas” frequency rank
#42,720
“tabúes” frequency rank
49082
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tablas tabúes
Definition Situación de un partido, especialmente en las damas y el ajedrez, en la que ninguno de los dos jugadores se lleva la victoria. Forma del plural de tabú.

Where the eye mixes tablas and tabúes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
tablas
6 ch
tabúes

Why the eye confuses tablas with tabúes

A purely visual mix-up. tablas ([ˈt̪aβ̞las]) and tabúes ([t̪aˈβ̞ues]) 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 49082, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tablas is recorded at frequency rank #6,362, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪aβ̞las]. tabúes is at rank #42,720, tagged as anoun, pronounced [t̪aˈβ̞ues].

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 49082, this pair ranks #110,819 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tablas vs tabúes

Shared letters: abst. Private to "tablas": l. Private to "tabúes": .

"tablas" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "tabúes" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tablasatblas · tabals · tabblas · tablass · tabllas · tablsa · talbas · tavlas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tablas" and "tabúes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt̪aβ̞las] versus [t̪aˈβ̞ues]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tablas" vs "tabúes" - which ranks higher?
"tablas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,362 in our Spanish list, against #42,720 for "tabúes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tablas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tabúes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #110,819 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tablas" and "tabúes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "table vs tabúes". 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 #110,819 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