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'Tale' is a story or narrative; 'tail' is the rear appendage of an animal or the end of something.
Side-by-side comparison
"Tale" is a story or narrative, especially an imaginative or adventurous one. "Fairy tale" = a magical story. "Old wives' tale" = a popular superstition without scientific basis.
She told the children a bedtime tale about a dragon who only ate vegetables.
The tale of the shipwreck survivors gripped readers from the first page.
His tale of being stuck in traffic for three hours seemed unlikely given the distance.
"Tail" is the rear appendage of an animal. Also the end of something, the reverse of a coin ("heads or tails"), or the verb to follow someone secretly.
The dog wagged its tail enthusiastically when it heard its owner arrive home.
The detective was tailing the suspect through the city's busiest streets.
She flipped a coin and called tails, but it landed on heads.
Common mistake
"She told a long tail about her trip" when meaning a story is wrong (correct: tale). And "The dog wagged its tale" when meaning the appendage is wrong (correct: tail). Very frequent typo in fast writing.
Trick to remember it
- •"Tale" comes from "tell", they share the same Germanic root.
- •A tale is literally something told.
- •"Tail" has AIL like "trail", an animal's tail traces a trail behind it.
Quick rule
Is it the story or narrative? "Tale." Is it the animal appendage or rear end? "Tail."
Did you know?
TALE and TELL come from the same Old English root "talu" (to count, to narrate), a tale is literally something told. From the same root comes "tattletale" (someone who tells on others, doubles the root). "Old wives' tale" (popular superstition) is documented in English since the 16th century. Interestingly, comets have two TAILS: a dust tail and a plasma/ion tail, and both always point away from the Sun, regardless of the direction the comet is traveling. In "heads or tails," TAIL comes from the idea that the coin's reverse side often showed an animal or figure with a prominent rear.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
The dog wagged its _____ every time someone came to the door.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
Grandpa loved telling us _____ s about his adventures when he was young.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
One means to receive or agree to something, the other means to exclude or not include.
'Advice' is the guidance you receive (noun); 'advise' is the act of giving that guidance (verb).
'Affect' is the verb meaning to influence something; 'effect' is the noun meaning result or consequence.
'Aisle' is the walkway between rows of seats or shelves; 'isle' is a small island.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy