talevstanaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#49,971
“tale” frequency rank
#44,480
“tana” frequency rank
94451
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tale tana
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de talar o de talarse. Véase ser más viejo que la tana.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tale and tana apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
tale
4 ch
tana

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tale is [ˈt̪ale] while tana is [ˈt̪ana]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 94451, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tale is recorded at frequency rank #49,971, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪ale]. tana is at rank #44,480, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪ana].

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 94451, this pair ranks #821 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tale vs tana

Shared letters: at. Private to "tale": el. Private to "tana": n.

"tale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tana" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • taleatle · tael · tlae · ttale
  • tanatanna · tnaa · ttana

Frequency comparison

tale#49,971
tana#44,480

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tale" and "tana" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tale" is a verb and "tana" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tale" or "tana"?
"tana" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,480 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 tale vs tana

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “tale”; for a noun, it's “tana”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tale” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list