Tail or Tale: Which Word Is Correct?

Tail and tale are both real words, but they mean different things. Use tail for an animal’s back part, the end of something, or the act of following someone. Use tale when you mean a story.

These words sound the same, so the mistake is easy to make. The spelling depends on what you mean.

Tail or Tale: Correct and Incorrect Examples

Correct: The dog wagged its tail.
Incorrect: The dog wagged its tale.
Correct: She told us a funny tale.
Incorrect: She told us a funny tail.

If the word means a body part or an end part, choose tail. If the word means a story, choose tale.

What Does Tail Mean?

Tail is usually a noun. It often means the back part of an animal’s body.

The cat curled its tail around its paws.
The horse flicked its tail at the flies.
The bird had a long blue tail.

Tail can also mean the end part of something.

The kite’s tail helped it stay steady in the wind.
The airplane’s tail had a red logo on it.
Call heads or tails before I flip the coin.

Tail can also be a verb meaning to follow someone closely, often quietly or secretly.

The detective tried to tail the suspect.
A black car seemed to be tailing us.

What Does Tale Mean?

Tale is a noun. It means a story. A tale can be true, made up, old, funny, scary, or hard to believe.

Grandma told us a bedtime tale.
The book is a simple tale about friendship.
He shared a strange tale from his childhood.
The movie is based on an old folk tale.

You may also see tale in phrases like fairy tale, folk tale, and tall tale.

Why Tail and Tale Are Confusing

Tail and tale are homophones. That means they sound the same but have different meanings and spellings.

Your ear cannot tell the difference, so look at the meaning of the sentence. If you mean “story,” use tale. For almost every other common use, such as an animal part, an end part, or following someone, use tail.

Common Phrases With Tail

Wag its tail: The dog wagged its tail when I came home.
Heads or tails: We flipped a coin and called heads or tails.
Tail end: We arrived at the tail end of the meeting.
Tail someone: The officer had to tail the car.
Turn tail: The thief turned tail and ran.

Common Phrases With Tale

Fairy tale: Cinderella is a famous fairy tale.
Folk tale: The story began as an old folk tale.
Tall tale: His story about the giant fish was a tall tale.
Cautionary tale: The mistake became a cautionary tale for the team.
Tale of woe: She told us a long tale of woe about her bad day.

Memory Tip for Tail or Tale

Here is an easy way to remember the difference:

A tale is told.

Both tale and told are connected to stories.

For tail, think of an animal. Animals have tails.

Final Reminder

Use tail for an animal’s back part, the end of something, or following someone. Use tale for a story. If you can replace the word with story, choose tale.