tayvstexWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“tay” and “tex” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#45,907
“tay” frequency rank
#23,048
“tex” frequency rank
68955
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tay tex
Definition Thaïlandais (habitant de la Thaïlande). Unité de mesure du titrage (masse linéique) des fils et filés, équivalant à 10⁻⁶ kg/m. Son symbole est tx.

Where the eye mixes tay and tex

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
tay
3 ch
tex

Why the eye confuses tay with tex

A purely visual mix-up. tay (\tɑj\) and tex (\tɛks\) 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 68955, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tay is recorded at frequency rank #45,907, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɑj\. tex is at rank #23,048, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɛks\.

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 68955, this pair ranks #57,067 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tay vs tex

Shared letters: t. Private to "tay": ay. Private to "tex": ex.

"tay" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "tex" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tay" for "tex" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\tɑj\ versus \tɛks\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tay" or "tex"?
"tex" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,048 in our French list, against #45,907 for "tay". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tay" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tex" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #57,067 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tay" and "tex" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tay vs tif". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #57,067 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