Which to use
“tear” is a noun and “tell” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,581
- “tear” frequency rank
- #9,770
- “tell” frequency rank
- 41351
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tear | tell |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | aparelho ou máquina de tecer | contar, narrar |
Letter map: tear vs tell
Shared letters muted; letters that set tear and tell apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Part-of-speech tell for tear / tell
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tear is anoun and tellaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41351, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tear is recorded at frequency rank #31,581, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtjaɾ/. tell is at rank #9,770, tagged as averb.
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 41351, this pair ranks #24,563 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tear vs tell
Shared letters: et. Private to "tear": ar. Private to "tell": l.
"tear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "tell" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tear" for "tell" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tear" vs "tell" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "tear" and "tell".
- Full dictionary entry for "tear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tell" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #24,563 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tear" and "tell" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tear vs teco". 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 #24,563 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.