takesvsThalèsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: takes is a noun, Thalès is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“takes” is a noun and “Thalès” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,639
“takes” frequency rank
#41,040
“Thalès” frequency rank
88679
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature takes Thalès
Definition Pluriel de take. Mathématicien et philosophe présocratique de la Grèce antique.

Where the eye mixes takes and Thalès

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. takes runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against Thalès's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
takes
6 ch
Thalès

Look-alike desk: takes vs Thalès

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: takes is \tɛk\ while Thalès is \ta.lɛs\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88679, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

takes is recorded at frequency rank #47,639, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɛk\. Thalès is at rank #41,040, tagged as aname, pronounced \ta.lɛs\.

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 88679, this pair ranks #6,684 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of takes vs Thalès

Shared letters: ast. Private to "takes": ek. Private to "Thalès": hlè.

"takes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Thalès" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • takes ← atkes · taeks · takess · takkes · takse · tkaes · ttakes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "takes" for "Thalès" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "takes" is a noun and "Thalès" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "takes" or "Thalès"?
"Thalès" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,040 in our French list, against #47,639 for "takes". 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 "takes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Thalès" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #6,684 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "takes" and "Thalès" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "takes vs Takeshi". 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 #6,684 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