talavstaleWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tala is a noun, tale is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tala” is a noun and “tale” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,094
“tala” frequency rank
#49,971
“tale” frequency rank
68065
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tala tale
Definition Acción o efecto de talar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de talar o de talarse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tala and tale apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
tala
4 ch
tale

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tala is [ˈt̪ala] while tale is [ˈt̪ale]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “tala” becomes e in “tale”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68065, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tala is recorded at frequency rank #18,094, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪ala]. tale is at rank #49,971, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪ale].

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 68065, this pair ranks #35,493 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tala vs tale

Shared letters: alt. Private to "tala": -. Private to "tale": e.

"tala" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • talataal · tlaa · ttala
  • taleatle · tael · tlae · ttale

Frequency comparison

tala#18,094
tale#49,971

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tala" and "tale" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tala" is a noun and "tale" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tala" or "tale"?
"tala" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,094 in our Spanish list, against #49,971 for "tale". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tala vs tale

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “tala”; for a verb, it's “tale”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tala” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list