talavstomaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#18,094
“tala” frequency rank
#869
“toma” frequency rank
18963
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tala toma
Definition Acción o efecto de talar. Acción o efecto de tomar (recibir o encargarse de algo).

Where the eye mixes tala and toma

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
tala
4 ch
toma

Why the eye confuses tala with toma

A purely visual mix-up. tala ([ˈt̪ala]) and toma ([ˈt̪oma]) 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 18963, 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]. toma is at rank #869, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪oma].

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 18963, this pair ranks #265,740 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tala vs toma

Shared letters: at. Private to "tala": l. Private to "toma": mo.

"tala" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "toma" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • talataal · tlaa · ttala
  • tomaotma · tmoa · toam · tomma · ttoma

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tala" for "toma" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt̪ala] versus [ˈt̪oma]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tala" vs "toma" - which ranks higher?
"toma" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #869 in our Spanish list, against #18,094 for "tala". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "toma" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #265,740 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tala" and "toma" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tala vs task". 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 #265,740 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