Which to use
“tad” is a noun and “toh” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,433
- “tad” frequency rank
- #47,966
- “toh” frequency rank
- 62399
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tad | toh |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A small amount; a little bit. | To collapse (fail or break down internally); to fall asleep or collapse from exhaustion. |
Where the eye mixes tad and toh
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between tad and toh
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tad is /tæd/ while toh is [t˭o˦˨]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62399, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tad is recorded at frequency rank #14,433, classified as anoun, pronounced /tæd/. toh is at rank #47,966, tagged as averb, pronounced [t˭o˦˨].
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 62399, this pair ranks #88,711 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tad vs toh
Shared letters: t. Private to "tad": ad. Private to "toh": ho.
"tad" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "toh" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tad" for "toh" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "tad" or "toh" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "tad" and "toh" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tad" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "toh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #88,711 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tad" and "toh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Taf vs toh". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #88,711 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.