Which to use
“tells” is a verb and “toll” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,740
- “tells” frequency rank
- #6,304
- “toll” frequency rank
- 8044
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tells | toll |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of tell | A fee paid for some liberty or privilege, particularly for the privilege of passing over a bridge or on a highway, or for that of vending goods in a fair, market, etc. |
Where the eye mixes tells and toll
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tells runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against toll's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: tells vs toll
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tells is /tɛlz/ while toll is /təʊl/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8044, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tells is recorded at frequency rank #1,740, classified as averb, pronounced /tɛlz/. toll is at rank #6,304, tagged as anoun, pronounced /təʊl/.
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 8044, this pair ranks #504,366 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tells vs toll
Shared letters: lt. Private to "tells": es. Private to "toll": o.
"tells" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "toll" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tells" and "toll" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "tells" vs "toll" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tells" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "toll" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #504,366 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tells" and "toll" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "toll vs Toth". 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 #504,366 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.