tilovstoldWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tilo is a num, told is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tilo” is a num and “told” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,822
“tilo” frequency rank
#44,284
“told” frequency rank
76106
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tilo told
Definition Kardinalzahl zwischen null und zwei; eins Präteritum (simple past) des Verbs tell

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tilo and told apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
tilo
4 ch
told

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

tilo and told form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76106, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tilo is recorded at frequency rank #31,822, classified as anum, pronounced [tìló]. told is at rank #44,284, tagged as averb, pronounced [təʊld].

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 76106, this pair ranks #291,633 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Frequency comparison

tilo#31,822
told#44,284

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tilo" and "told" be used interchangeably?
No, "tilo" and "told" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering tilo vs told

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a num, it's “tilo”; for a verb, it's “told”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tilo” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list