Which to use
“tine” is a noun and “tuned” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,530
- “tine” frequency rank
- #8,735
- “tuned” frequency rank
- 53265
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tine | tuned |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A spike or point on an implement or tool, especially a prong of a fork or a tooth of a comb. | simple past and past participle of tune |
Where the eye mixes tine and tuned
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: tine vs tuned
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tine is /taɪn/ while tuned is /tjuːnd/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53265, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tine is recorded at frequency rank #44,530, classified as anoun, pronounced /taɪn/. tuned is at rank #8,735, tagged as averb, pronounced /tjuːnd/.
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 53265, this pair ranks #150,386 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tine vs tuned
Shared letters: ent. Private to "tine": i. Private to "tuned": du.
"tine" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "tuned" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tine" for "tuned" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tine" vs "tuned" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "tine" and "tuned" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tine" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tuned" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #150,386 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tine" and "tuned" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tine vs tobe". 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 #150,386 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.