TomsvsTVsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#41,507
“Toms” frequency rank
#40,900
“TVs” frequency rank
82407
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Toms TVs
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Tom Genitiv Singular des Substantivs TV

Where the eye mixes Toms and TVs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Toms runs 4 letters (CVCC) against TVs's 3 (CCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
Toms
3 ch
TVs

Look-alike desk: Toms vs TVs

A purely visual mix-up. Toms ([tɔms]) and TVs ([teːˈfaʊ̯s]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82407, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Toms is recorded at frequency rank #41,507, classified as anoun, pronounced [tɔms]. TVs is at rank #40,900, tagged as anoun, pronounced [teːˈfaʊ̯s].

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 82407, this pair ranks #157,872 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Toms vs TVs

Shared letters: st. Private to "Toms": mo. Private to "TVs": v.

"Toms" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "TVs" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Toms ← otms · tmos · tomms · tomss · tosm · ttoms

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Toms" for "TVs" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([tɔms] versus [teːˈfaʊ̯s]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Toms" vs "TVs" - which ranks higher?
"TVs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,900 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

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Toms" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "TVs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #157,872 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Toms" and "TVs" 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 #157,872 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