talevstaskWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,352
“tale” frequency rank
#34,487
“task” frequency rank
74839
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tale task
Definition discurso, fala tarefa

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
tale
4 ch
task

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. tale (/taːlə/, [ˈtˢæːlə]) and task (/tɑːsk/ (britânica)) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74839, 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]. task is at rank #34,487, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɑːsk/ (britânica).

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 74839, this pair ranks #2,434 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tale vs task

Shared letters: at. Private to "tale": el. Private to "task": ks.

"tale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "task" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • taleatle · tael · talle · tlae · ttale
  • taskatsk · taks · taskk · tassk · tsak · ttask

Frequency comparison

tale#40,352
task#34,487

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tale" and "task" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/taːlə/, [ˈtˢæːlə] versus /tɑːsk/ (britânica)) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tale" or "task"?
"task" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,487 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 tale vs task

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 “tale” 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