taivstakConfusable pair

Quick tell: tai is a adjective, tak is a particle, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tai” is an adjective and “tak” is a particle - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,216
“tai” frequency rank
#42,692
“tak” frequency rank
57908
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tai tak
Definition que pertence ao ramo das línguas tibeto-birmânicas que compreende o tai (tailandês) e o laociano sim

Letter map: tai vs tak

Shared letters muted; letters that set tai and tak apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. tai (CVV) and tak (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
tai
3 ch
tak

Part-of-speech tell for tai / tak

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tai is anadjective and takaparticle. On the page they differ by a single letter - i in “tai” becomes k in “tak”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57908, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tai is recorded at frequency rank #15,216, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈtaj/. tak is at rank #42,692, tagged as aparticle.

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 57908, this pair ranks #9,064 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tai vs tak

Shared letters: at. Private to "tai": i. Private to "tak": k.

"tai" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "tak" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tai" and "tak" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tai" is an adjective and "tak" a particle, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "tai" or "tak" show up more?
"tai" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,216 in our Portuguese list, against #42,692 for "tak". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "tai" and "tak".

  • Full dictionary entry for "tai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tak" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #9,064 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tai" and "tak" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tak vs til". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #9,064 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list