TeesvsTomsTell them apart

Which to use

“Tees” and “Toms” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#39,662
“Tees” frequency rank
#41,507
“Toms” frequency rank
81169
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Tees Toms
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Tee Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Tom

Where the eye mixes Tees and Toms

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Tees (CVVC) and Toms (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
Tees
4 ch
Toms

Why the eye confuses Tees with Toms

A purely visual mix-up. Tees ([teːs]) and Toms ([tɔms]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81169, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tees is recorded at frequency rank #39,662, classified as anoun, pronounced [teːs]. Toms is at rank #41,507, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tɔms].

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 81169, this pair ranks #180,926 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Tees vs Toms

Shared letters: st. Private to "Tees": e. Private to "Toms": mo.

"Tees" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Toms" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Tees ← etes · teess · tese · ttees
  • Toms ← otms · tmos · tomms · tomss · tosm · ttoms

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Tees" and "Toms" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([teːs] versus [tɔms]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Tees" or "Toms"?
"Tees" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,662 in our German list, against #41,507 for "Toms". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Tees" and "Toms" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Tees" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Toms" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #180,926 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Tees" and "Toms" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Toms vs Tons". 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 #180,926 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list