takvstosConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#49,387
“tak” frequency rank
#48,234
“tos” frequency rank
97621
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tak tos
Definition Branche (d’un arbre). Élève de première année à l’École polytechnique.

Where the eye mixes tak and tos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. tak and tos follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

3 ch
tak
3 ch
tos

Look-alike desk: tak vs tos

A purely visual mix-up. tak (\tɑk\) and tos (\tos\) 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 97621, 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\. tos is at rank #48,234, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tos\.

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 97621, this pair ranks #299 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tak vs tos

Shared letters: t. Private to "tak": ak. Private to "tos": os.

"tak" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "tos" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tak" and "tos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\tɑk\ versus \tos\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tak" vs "tos" - which ranks higher?
"tos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #48,234 in our French list, against #49,387 for "tak". 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 "tak" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #299 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tak" and "tos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tak vs tif". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #299 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