toutvstrueConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#42,186
“tout” frequency rank
#9,645
“true” frequency rank
51831
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tout true
Definition all wahr, richtig

Where the eye mixes tout and true

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

4 ch
tout
4 ch
true

Why the eye confuses tout with true

A purely visual mix-up. tout ([tu]) and true ([tɹuː]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51831, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tout is recorded at frequency rank #42,186, classified as anadj, pronounced [tu]. true is at rank #9,645, tagged as anadj, pronounced [tɹuː].

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 51831, this pair ranks #1,120,331 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tout vs true

Shared letters: tu. Private to "tout": o. Private to "true": er.

"tout" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "true" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • toutotut · totu · toutt · ttout · tuot
  • truertue · trrue · ttrue · ture

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tout" and "true" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([tu] versus [tɹuː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tout" or "true"?
"true" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,645 in our German list, against #42,186 for "tout". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tout" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "true" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,120,331 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tout" and "true" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "taut vs tout". 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 #1,120,331 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