tollvsTonWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: toll is a adjective, Ton is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“toll” is an adjective and “Ton” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#785
“toll” frequency rank
#2,180
“Ton” frequency rank
2965
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature toll Ton
Definition einfältig bis verrückt feinkörniges Verwitterungsprodukt, Bodenart, Töpfermaterial, Baustoff/Werkstoff

Where the eye mixes toll and Ton

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
toll
3 ch
Ton

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: toll is [tɔl] while Ton is [toːn]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2965, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

toll is recorded at frequency rank #785, classified as anadj, pronounced [tɔl]. Ton is at rank #2,180, tagged as anoun, pronounced [toːn].

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 2965, this pair ranks #2,001,228 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of toll vs Ton

Shared letters: ot. Private to "toll": l. Private to "Ton": n.

"toll" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Ton" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tollotll · tlol · tol · ttoll

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "toll" and "Ton" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "toll" is an adjective and "Ton" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "toll" or "Ton"?
"toll" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #785 in our German list, against #2,180 for "Ton". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "toll" and "Ton". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "toll" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Ton" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #2,001,228 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "toll" and "Ton" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tine vs Ton". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list