talevstraeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#49,971
“tale” frequency rank
#2,273
“trae” frequency rank
52244
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tale trae
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de talar o de talarse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de traer o de traerse.

Where the eye mixes tale and trae

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
tale
4 ch
trae

Why the eye confuses tale with trae

A purely visual mix-up. tale ([ˈt̪ale]) and trae ([ˈt̪ɾae]) 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 52244, 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]. trae is at rank #2,273, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪ɾae].

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 52244, this pair ranks #93,695 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tale vs trae

Shared letters: aet. Private to "tale": l. Private to "trae": r.

"tale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "trae" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • taleatle · tael · tlae · ttale
  • traertae · tare · trea · trrae · ttrae

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tale" and "trae" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt̪ale] versus [ˈt̪ɾae]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tale" vs "trae" - which ranks higher?
"trae" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,273 in our Spanish list, against #49,971 for "tale". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "tale" and "trae" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "trae" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #93,695 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tale" and "trae" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tale 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 #93,695 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