takvstookWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#42,692
“tak” frequency rank
#40,361
“took” frequency rank
83053
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tak took
Definition sim pretérito do verbo take

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tak and took apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
tak
4 ch
took

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tak is aparticle and tookaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83053, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tak is recorded at frequency rank #42,692, classified as aparticle. took is at rank #40,361, tagged as averb, pronounced /tʊk/.

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 83053, this pair ranks #953 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tak vs took

Shared letters: kt. Private to "tak": a. Private to "took": o.

"tak" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "took" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tookotok · tok · toko · tookk · ttook

Frequency comparison

tak#42,692
took#40,361

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tak" and "took" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tak" is a particle and "took" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tak" or "took"?
"took" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,361 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.

Remembering tak vs took

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a particle, it's “tak”; for a verb, it's “took”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tak” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list