Which to use
“tais” is a verb and “tels” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,078
- “tais” frequency rank
- #1,303
- “tels” frequency rank
- 14381
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tais | tels |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de taire. | Masculin pluriel de tel. |
Where the eye mixes tais and tels
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. tais (CVVC) and tels (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: tais vs tels
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tais is \tɛ\ while tels is \tɛl\. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14381, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tais is recorded at frequency rank #13,078, classified as averb, pronounced \tɛ\. tels is at rank #1,303, tagged as anadj, pronounced \tɛl\.
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 14381, this pair ranks #396,926 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tais vs tels
Shared letters: st. Private to "tais": ai. Private to "tels": el.
"tais" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "tels" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tais" and "tels" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "tais" or "tels" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tels" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #396,926 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tais" and "tels" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tais vs tif". 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 #396,926 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.