Which to use
“tale” and “tas” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,178
- “tale” frequency rank
- #2,392
- “tas” frequency rank
- 38570
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tale | tas |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Groupe d’arbres, de plantes, d'arbrisseaux fruitiers ou de végétaux d’une même espèce qui croissent de manière très dense dans un endroit donné ; cet endroit. | Monceau, amas, accumulation de choses. |
Where the eye mixes tale and tas
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tale with tas
A purely visual mix-up. tale (\tal\) and tas (\tɑ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38570, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tale is recorded at frequency rank #36,178, classified as anoun, pronounced \tal\. tas is at rank #2,392, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɑ\.
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 38570, this pair ranks #254,368 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tale vs tas
Shared letters: at. Private to "tale": el. Private to "tas": s.
"tale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "tas" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- tale ← atle · tael · talle · tlae · ttale
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tale" for "tas" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tale" or "tas"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #254,368 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tale" and "tas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tak vs tale". 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 #254,368 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.