taskvstookWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#34,487
“task” frequency rank
#40,361
“took” frequency rank
74848
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature task took
Definition tarefa pretérito do verbo take

Where the eye mixes task and took

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
task
4 ch
took

Look-alike desk: task vs took

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: task is /tɑːsk/ (britânica) while took is /tʊk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74848, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

task is recorded at frequency rank #34,487, classified as anoun, pronounced /tɑːsk/ (britânica). took is at rank #40,361, tagged as averb, pronounced /tʊk/.

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 74848, this pair ranks #2,432 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of task vs took

Shared letters: kt. Private to "task": as. Private to "took": o.

"task" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "took" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • taskatsk · taks · taskk · tassk · tsak · ttask
  • tookotok · tok · toko · tookk · ttook

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "task" for "took" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "task" is a noun and "took" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "task" vs "took" - which ranks higher?
"task" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,487 in our Portuguese list, against #40,361 for "took". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "task" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "took" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,432 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "task" and "took" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "took vs tosa". 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 #2,432 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