cannot be told apart

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "cannot be told apart" is correct and usable in written English. You can use it when discussing two or more items that are indistinguishable from each other. An example is: "The twins are so similar that they cannot be told apart." Alternative expressions include "cannot be distinguished" and "are indistinguishable."

✓ Grammatically correct

Science

News & Media

Wiki

Academia

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

5 human-written examples

There, in 1962, aged twenty-six and in hiding for want of a passport, he wrote "Men in the Sun" (Lynne Rienner; $12.95), a novella about three Palestinian refugees who pay a smuggler to take them across a swath of the Iraqi desert to Kuwait: a work as searing as the relentless desert sun that blinds and burns the men, a work in which politics and art cannot be told apart.

The New Yorker

This claim seems plausible, as from a subject's perspective an hallucination cannot be told apart from a veridical experience.

SEP

The fact that two visible objects cannot be told apart by sight suggests that there is something in common between them that sight does detect.

SEP

Adult rockfowl show little sexual dimorphism in plumage and the sexes cannot be told apart by appearance.

Wikipedia

However, clustering methods are prone to fail when the barcoding gap is not present because sequences cannot be told apart any more via sequence similarity alone.

Bioinformatics

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

55 human-written examples

That is, what makes it the case that one's hallucinatory experience is as of a snow covered churchyard, with a certain sort of phenomenal character, is just that it is an occurrence which is indiscriminable from cannot be told apart, introspectively, from a veridical perception of a snow covered churchyard.

SEP

Even identical twins can be told apart.

Science Magazine

The use of self-reported zygosity measures, based on the difficulty of being told apart by parents, is often criticized.

Sports Medicine - Open

The calls of Fish Crows and American Crows are readily told apart.

Cornell University

Grace, we are told, cannot be earned.

The New Yorker

We'll be torn apart anyway, I've been told.

Duke University

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When using "cannot be told apart", ensure that the context clearly indicates what items are being compared and why their indistinguishability is relevant.

Common error

Avoid using "cannot be told apart" when there are subtle differences that could be detected with closer inspection. This phrase is most effective when the items are virtually identical at first glance.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "cannot be told apart" functions as a descriptor, highlighting the indistinguishability of two or more entities. As shown in Ludwig, this often relates to visual similarities or conceptual equivalence. The phrase is commonly used to emphasize a lack of discernible difference.

Expression frequency: Rare

Frequent in

Science

40%

News & Media

40%

Wiki

20%

Less common in

Academia

20%

Formal & Business

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "cannot be told apart" is used to describe two or more items that are so similar that they are indistinguishable. Ludwig AI indicates that the phrase is grammatically correct. While only "Rare" in frequency according to Ludwig's analysis, it appears in varied contexts such as Science, News & Media and Wiki. When writing with this phrase, ensure the context clearly indicates what is being compared and why their indistinguishability is relevant. A suitable alternative to "cannot be told apart" is the term "indistinguishable".

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

indistinguishable

Single word alternative implying that two things are impossible to tell apart.

impossible to differentiate

Emphasizes the difficulty in perceiving a difference between two or more things.

cannot be distinguished

A more formal way of saying that two things appear the same.

look identical

Focuses specifically on visual similarity.

appear the same

Highlights the perceived similarity.

virtually identical

Emphasizes a very high degree of similarity.

essentially the same

Highlights the lack of any meaningful difference.

no discernible difference

Focuses on the absence of noticeable variation.

one and the same

Expresses complete equivalence.

alike in every respect

Highlights overall similarity in all aspects.

FAQs

How can I use "cannot be told apart" in a sentence?

Use "cannot be told apart" to indicate that two or more items are so similar that they are indistinguishable, for example: "The twins are so alike that they "cannot be told apart"".

What's a simpler way to say "cannot be told apart"?

Alternatives include "indistinguishable", "identical", or "the same". The best choice depends on the specific context.

Which is more formal, "cannot be told apart" or "cannot be distinguished"?

"Cannot be distinguished" is generally considered more formal than "cannot be told apart". Both phrases convey a similar meaning, but "distinguished" carries a slightly more elevated tone.

What's the difference between "cannot be told apart" and "hard to tell apart"?

"Cannot be told apart" suggests a complete lack of discernible difference, while "hard to tell apart" implies that distinguishing them is difficult but potentially possible with effort. For example: The two shades of blue are so close in color that they're "hard to tell apart".