tala vs tale, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“tala” and “tale” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#36,251
“tala” frequency rank: #40,352
“tale” frequency rank: 76603
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	tala	tale
Definition	a moeda de Samoa	discurso, fala

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch

tala

4 ch

tale

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. tala (/ˈta.lɐ/) and tale (/taːlə/, [ˈtˢæːlə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - a in “tala” becomes e in “tale”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76603, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tala is recorded at frequency rank #36,251, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈta.lɐ/. tale is at rank #40,352, tagged as anoun, pronounced /taːlə/, [ˈtˢæːlə].

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 76603, this pair ranks #2,061 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tala vs tale

Shared letters: alt. Private to "tala": -. Private to "tale": e.

"tala" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "tale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

tala ← taal · talla · tlaa · ttala
tale ← atle · tael · talle · tlae · ttale

Frequency comparison

tala#36,251

tale#40,352

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tala" and "tale" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ˈta.lɐ/ versus /taːlə/, [ˈtˢæːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "tala" or "tale"?

"tala" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,251 in our Portuguese list, against #40,352 for "tale". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tala vs tale

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tala” entry
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