tatarsvstâterWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tatars is a adjective, tâter is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tatars” is an adjective and “tâter” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,579
“tatars” frequency rank
#36,196
“tâter” frequency rank
73775
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tatars tâter
Definition Masculin pluriel de tatar. Toucher, manier doucement une chose, pour connaître son état.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tatars and tâter apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
tatars
5 ch
tâter

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tatars is \ta.taʁ\ while tâter is \tɑ.te\. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73775, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tatars is recorded at frequency rank #37,579, classified as anadj, pronounced \ta.taʁ\. tâter is at rank #36,196, tagged as averb, pronounced \tɑ.te\.

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 73775, this pair ranks #39,299 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tatars vs tâter

Shared letters: rt. Private to "tatars": as. Private to "tâter": .

"tatars" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "tâter" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tatarsattars · taatrs · tatarrs · tatarss · tatasr · tatras · tattars · ttaars

Frequency comparison

tatars#37,579
tâter#36,196

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tatars" and "tâter" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tatars" is an adjective and "tâter" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tatars" or "tâter"?
"tâter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,196 in our French list, against #37,579 for "tatars". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tatars vs tâter

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “tatars”; for a verb, it's “tâter”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tatars” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list