Which to use
“tale” is a noun and “tice” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,178
- “tale” frequency rank
- #45,913
- “tice” frequency rank
- 82091
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tale | tice |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | En haut de, au sommet de (sans mouvement). |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tale and tice apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tale is \tal\ while tice is \ˈtiʃɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82091, 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\. tice is at rank #45,913, tagged as aprep, pronounced \ˈtiʃɛ\.
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 82091, this pair ranks #17,439 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tale vs tice
Shared letters: et. Private to "tale": al. Private to "tice": ci.
"tale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "tice" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tale" and "tice" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "tale" or "tice"?
Remembering tale vs tice
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “tale”; for a preposition, it's “tice”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tale” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable