Which to use
“tape” is a noun and “tarde” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,801
- “tape” frequency rank
- #279
- “tarde” frequency rank
- 25080
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tape | tarde |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | toque suave | tardiamente, atrasado |
Where the eye mixes tape and tarde
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tape runs 4 letters (CVCV) against tarde's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: tape vs tarde
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tape is /tap/ while tarde is /'tax.dʒɪ/. 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25080, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tape is recorded at frequency rank #24,801, classified as anoun, pronounced /tap/. tarde is at rank #279, tagged as anadv, pronounced /'tax.dʒɪ/.
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 25080, this pair ranks #44,326 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tape vs tarde
Shared letters: aet. Private to "tape": p. Private to "tarde": dr.
"tape" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "tarde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tape" for "tarde" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "tape" or "tarde" show up more?
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 "tape" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tarde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #44,326 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tape" and "tarde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tampo vs tape". 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 #44,326 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.