tachevstaiseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tache is a noun, taise is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tache” is a noun and “taise” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,314
“tache” frequency rank
#40,040
“taise” frequency rank
48354
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tache taise
Definition Souillure sur quelque chose ; marque qui salit. Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de taire.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tache and taise apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
tache
5 ch
taise

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tache is \taʃ\ while taise is \tɛz\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48354, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tache is recorded at frequency rank #8,314, classified as anoun, pronounced \taʃ\. taise is at rank #40,040, tagged as averb, pronounced \tɛz\.

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 48354, this pair ranks #179,590 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tache vs taise

Shared letters: aet. Private to "tache": ch. Private to "taise": is.

"tache" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "taise" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tacheatche · tacche · taceh · tachhe · tahce · tcahe · ttache
  • taisetaies · taisse · tasie · tiase · ttaise

Frequency comparison

tache#8,314
taise#40,040

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tache" and "taise" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tache" is a noun and "taise" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tache" or "taise"?
"tache" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,314 in our French list, against #40,040 for "taise". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tache vs taise

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “tache”; for a verb, it's “taise”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tache” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list