Which to use
“tau” and “té” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,347
- “tau” frequency rank
- #4,126
- “té” frequency rank
- 37473
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tau | té |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | La letra número 19 del alfabeto griego. | (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 tau and té
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tau with té
A purely visual mix-up. tau ([ˈt̪aw]) and té ([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 37473, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tau is recorded at frequency rank #33,347, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪aw]. té 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 37473, this pair ranks #175,135 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tau vs té
Shared letters: t. Private to "tau": au. Private to "té": é.
"tau" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "té" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tau" and "té" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "tau" or "té"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "tau" and "té" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tau" 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 #175,135 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tau" and "té" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "task vs tau". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #175,135 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.