Which to use
“Tofu” is a noun and “tom” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,791
- “Tofu” frequency rank
- #2,521
- “tom” frequency rank
- 28312
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Tofu | tom |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | eine Art Quark aus Sojabohnenmilch | ohne Inhalt; leer |
Where the eye mixes Tofu and tom
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Tofu with tom
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Tofu is [ˈtoːfu] while tom is [tum]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28312, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Tofu is recorded at frequency rank #25,791, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtoːfu]. tom is at rank #2,521, tagged as anadj, pronounced [tum].
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 28312, this pair ranks #1,787,020 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Tofu vs tom
Shared letters: ot. Private to "Tofu": fu. Private to "tom": m.
"Tofu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "tom" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Tofu ← otfu · tfou · toffu · touf · ttofu
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Tofu" for "tom" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "Tofu" or "tom" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Tofu" and "tom" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Tofu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tom" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,787,020 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Tofu" and "tom" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Tofu 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 #1,787,020 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.