Which to use
“till” is a preposition and “toll” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,706
- “till” frequency rank
- #6,304
- “toll” frequency rank
- 8010
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | till | toll |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Until; to, up to; as late as (a given time). | 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 spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set till and toll apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
till and toll form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - i in “till” becomes o in “toll” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8010, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
till is recorded at frequency rank #1,706, classified as aprep, pronounced /tɪl/. 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 8010, this pair ranks #504,517 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "till" and "toll" be used interchangeably?
Remembering till vs toll
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “till”; for a noun, it's “toll”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “till” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable