Which to use
“tale” and “tax” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,352
- “tale” frequency rank
- #35,800
- “tax” frequency rank
- 76152
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tale | tax |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | discurso, fala | apócope de táxi |
Where the eye mixes tale and tax
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. tale runs 4 letters (CVCV) against tax's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: tale vs tax
A purely visual mix-up. tale (/taːlə/, [ˈtˢæːlə]) and tax (/taks/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76152, 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]. tax is at rank #35,800, tagged as anoun, pronounced /taks/.
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 76152, this pair ranks #2,152 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tale vs tax
Shared letters: at. Private to "tale": el. Private to "tax": x.
"tale" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "tax" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- tale ← atle · tael · talle · tlae · ttale
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tale" and "tax" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "tale" or "tax" show up more?
What to do next
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 "tax" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,152 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tale" and "tax" 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 #2,152 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.