TogovstoldWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#36,063
“Togo” frequency rank
#44,284
“told” frequency rank
80347
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Togo told
Definition Land in Westafrika Präteritum (simple past) des Verbs tell

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
Togo
4 ch
told

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Togo is [ˈtoːɡo] while told is [təʊld]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80347, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Togo is recorded at frequency rank #36,063, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈtoːɡo]. 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 80347, this pair ranks #197,475 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Togo vs told

Shared letters: ot. Private to "Togo": g. Private to "told": dl.

"Togo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "told" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Togootgo · tgoo · toggo · toog · ttogo
  • toldotld · tlod · todl · toldd · tolld · ttold

Frequency comparison

Togo#36,063
told#44,284

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Togo" and "told" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Togo" is a name and "told" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Togo" or "told"?
"Togo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,063 in our German list, against #44,284 for "told". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Togo vs told

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Togo”; for a verb, it's “told”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Togo” 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