tabvsTHTell them apart

Which to use

“tab” and “TH” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#20,865
“tab” frequency rank
#16,022
“TH” frequency rank
36887
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tab TH
Definition Vignette attenant à un timbre situé en bord de feuille (ce terme est généralement utilisé pour parler des vignettes de bas de feuille des timbres israéliens). titre hydrotimétrique (GH en allemand pour GesamtHärte).

Where the eye mixes tab and TH

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
tab
2 ch
TH

Why the eye confuses tab with TH

A purely visual mix-up. tab (\tab\) and TH (\te.aʃ\) 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 36887, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tab is recorded at frequency rank #20,865, classified as anoun, pronounced \tab\. TH is at rank #16,022, tagged as anoun, pronounced \te.aʃ\.

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 36887, this pair ranks #266,419 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tab vs TH

Shared letters: t. Private to "tab": ab. Private to "TH": h.

"tab" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "TH" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tab" and "TH" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\tab\ versus \te.aʃ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "tab" or "TH" show up more?
"TH" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,022 in our French list, against #20,865 for "tab". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tab" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "TH" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #266,419 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tab" and "TH" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tab vs tif". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #266,419 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list