Which to use
“tale” and “tape” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,352
- “tale” frequency rank
- #24,801
- “tape” frequency rank
- 65153
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tale | tape |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | discurso, fala | toque suave |
Where the eye mixes tale and tape
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tale and tape follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between tale and tape
A purely visual mix-up. tale (/taːlə/, [ˈtˢæːlə]) and tape (/tap/) 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 - l in “tale” becomes p in “tape”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65153, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tale is recorded at frequency rank #40,352, classified as anoun, pronounced /taːlə/, [ˈtˢæːlə]. tape is at rank #24,801, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tap/.
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 65153, this pair ranks #5,503 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tale vs tape
Shared letters: aet. Private to "tale": l. Private to "tape": p.
"tale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "tape" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tale" for "tape" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tale" or "tape"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tape" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #5,503 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tale" and "tape" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "talão vs tale". 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 #5,503 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.