Which to use
“tak” and “tou” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,387
- “tak” frequency rank
- #17,579
- “tou” frequency rank
- 66966
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tak | tou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Branche (d’un arbre). | Serment. |
Where the eye mixes tak and tou
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. tak (CVC) and tou (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between tak and tou
A purely visual mix-up. tak (\tɑk\) and tou (\ˈtu:\) 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 66966, 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\. tou is at rank #17,579, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈtu:\.
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 66966, this pair ranks #65,506 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tak vs tou
Shared letters: t. Private to "tak": ak. Private to "tou": ou.
"tak" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "tou" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tak" for "tou" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "tak" or "tou" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "tak" and "tou" 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 "tou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #65,506 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tak" and "tou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tak vs tif". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #65,506 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.