talavstaxarWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: tala is a noun, taxar is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tala” is a noun and “taxar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,251
“tala” frequency rank
#41,268
“taxar” frequency rank
77519
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tala taxar
Definition a moeda de Samoa estabelecer ou cobrar taxa

Where the eye mixes tala and taxar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tala runs 4 letters (CVCV) against taxar's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
tala
5 ch
taxar

Why the eye confuses tala with taxar

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tala is /ˈta.lɐ/ while taxar is /taˈʃa(ʁ)/ [taˈʃa(h)]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77519, 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/. taxar is at rank #41,268, tagged as averb, pronounced /taˈʃa(ʁ)/ [taˈʃa(h)].

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 77519, this pair ranks #1,862 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tala vs taxar

Shared letters: at. Private to "tala": l. Private to "taxar": rx.

"tala" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "taxar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tala ← taal · talla · tlaa · ttala
  • taxar ← atxar · taaxr · taxarr · taxra · taxxar · ttaxar · txaar

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tala" and "taxar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tala" is a noun and "taxar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tala" or "taxar"?
"tala" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,251 in our Portuguese list, against #41,268 for "taxar". 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 "tala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "taxar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,862 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tala" and "taxar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "talão vs taxar". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,862 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