tacvsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,971
“tac” frequency rank
#4,126
“té” frequency rank
19097
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tac
Definition Sonido que se repite con cierta frecuencia similar al ritmo cardiaco. (Camellia sinensis) Arbusto de la famila de las cameliáceas, originario de Assam y de Bengala. Fue cultivado en China desde el siglo IV e introducido en Europa en el siglo XVI. Es perenne, de no más de 4 metros de altura, con hojas lanceoladas, ligeramente pubescentes, de hasta 15 centímetros de longitud y 5 de ancho. Las flores son blanco-amarillentas.

Where the eye mixes tac and té

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
tac
2 ch
té

Look-alike desk: tac vs té

A purely visual mix-up. tac ([ˈt̪ak]) and ([ˈt̪e]) 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 19097, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tac is recorded at frequency rank #14,971, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪ak]. is at rank #4,126, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪e].

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 19097, this pair ranks #265,212 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tac vs té

Shared letters: t. Private to "tac": ac. Private to "té": é.

"tac" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "té" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tac" for "té" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt̪ak] versus [ˈt̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tac" vs "té" - which ranks higher?
"té" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,126 in our Spanish list, against #14,971 for "tac". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "té" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #265,212 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tac" and "té" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tac vs task". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #265,212 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