Which to use
“tableau” and “tableaux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,279
- “tableau” frequency rank
- #3,805
- “tableaux” frequency rank
- 5084
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tableau | tableaux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Peinture déplaçable exécuté sur un panneau de bois, sur une plaque de cuivre, sur une toile tendue sur un châssis, etc. | Pluriel de tableau. |
Same sound, different letters: tableau vs tableaux
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - tableau / tableaux
This is the hard kind. tableau and tableaux are pronounced identically (\ta.blo\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “tableau” sits inside “tableaux”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5084, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tableau is recorded at frequency rank #1,279, classified as anoun, pronounced \ta.blo\. tableaux is at rank #3,805, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ta.blo\.
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 5084, this pair ranks #429,943 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tableau vs tableaux
Shared letters: abeltu. Private to "tableau": -. Private to "tableaux": x.
"tableau" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVV · "tableaux" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tableau" and "tableaux" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "tableau" vs "tableaux" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "tableau" / "tableaux". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "tableau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tableaux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #429,943 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tableau" and "tableaux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tableaux vs tableur". 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 #429,943 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.