tabacsvstablesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,559
“tabacs” frequency rank
#5,297
“tables” frequency rank
46856
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tabacs tables
Definition Pluriel de tabac. Pluriel de table.

Where the eye mixes tabacs and tables

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
tabacs
6 ch
tables

Look-alike desk: tabacs vs tables

A purely visual mix-up. tabacs (\ta.ba\) and tables (\tabl\) 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 46856, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tabacs is recorded at frequency rank #41,559, classified as anoun, pronounced \ta.ba\. tables is at rank #5,297, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tabl\.

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 46856, this pair ranks #191,526 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tabacs vs tables

Shared letters: abst. Private to "tabacs": c. Private to "tables": el.

"tabacs" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "tables" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tabacsatbacs · taabcs · tabaccs · tabacss · tabasc · tabbacs · tabcas · tbaacs
  • tablesatbles · tabbles · tabels · tabless · tablles · tablse · talbes · tbales

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tabacs" for "tables" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ta.ba\ versus \tabl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tabacs" or "tables"?
"tables" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,297 in our French list, against #41,559 for "tabacs". 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 "tabacs" and "tables" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tabacs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tables" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #191,526 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tabacs" and "tables" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tabacs vs tatars". 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 #191,526 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