tableauvstablesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,279
“tableau” frequency rank
#5,297
“tables” frequency rank
6576
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tableau tables
Definition Peinture déplaçable exécuté sur un panneau de bois, sur une plaque de cuivre, sur une toile tendue sur un châssis, etc. Pluriel de table.

Where the eye mixes tableau and tables

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
tableau
6 ch
tables

Look-alike desk: tableau vs tables

A purely visual mix-up. tableau (\ta.blo\) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6576, 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\. 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 6576, this pair ranks #425,847 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tableau vs tables

Shared letters: abelt. Private to "tableau": u. Private to "tables": s.

"tableau" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVV  ·  "tables" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tableauatbleau · tabbleau · tabelau · tablaeu · tableua · tablleau · talbeau · tbaleau
  • tablesatbles · tabbles · tabels · tabless · tablles · tablse · talbes · tbales

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tableau" and "tables" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ta.blo\ versus \tabl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tableau" or "tables"?
"tableau" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,279 in our French list, against #5,297 for "tables". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tableau" 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 #425,847 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tableau" and "tables" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tables 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 #425,847 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