Which to use
“tailler” is a verb and “taillis” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,873
- “tailler” frequency rank
- #47,638
- “taillis” frequency rank
- 60511
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tailler | taillis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Couper, retrancher d’une matière, en ôter avec le marteau, le ciseau, ou tout autre instrument, ce qu’il y a de superflu, pour lui donner une certaine forme, pour la rendre propre à tel ou tel usage. | L’adjectif n’est usité que dans la locution « bois taillis », le bois que l’on taille, que l’on coupe de temps en temps. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tailler and taillis apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
tailler and taillis form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60511, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tailler is recorded at frequency rank #12,873, classified as averb, pronounced \tɑ.je\. taillis is at rank #47,638, tagged as anadj, pronounced \tɑ.ji\.
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 60511, this pair ranks #97,217 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tailler" and "taillis" be used interchangeably?
Remembering tailler vs taillis
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “tailler”; for an adjective, it's “taillis”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tailler” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable