takvstirConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#49,387
“tak” frequency rank
#2,969
“tir” frequency rank
52356
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tak tir
Definition Branche (d’un arbre). Action, art de tirer, de faire partir une arme de jet ou une arme à feu dans une direction déterminée.

Where the eye mixes tak and tir

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
tak
3 ch
tir

Why the eye confuses tak with tir

A purely visual mix-up. tak (\tɑk\) and tir (\tiʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52356, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tak is recorded at frequency rank #49,387, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɑk\. tir is at rank #2,969, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tiʁ\.

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 52356, this pair ranks #148,301 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tak vs tir

Shared letters: t. Private to "tak": ak. Private to "tir": ir.

"tak" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "tir" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tak" for "tir" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\tɑk\ versus \tiʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tak" or "tir"?
"tir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,969 in our French list, against #49,387 for "tak". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "tak" and "tir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tak" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #148,301 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tak" and "tir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tak vs tif". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #148,301 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