Which to use
“toe” is a noun and “toh” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,424
- “toe” frequency rank
- #47,966
- “toh” frequency rank
- 54390
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | toe | toh |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Each of the five digits on the end of the human foot. | To collapse (fail or break down internally); to fall asleep or collapse from exhaustion. |
Where the eye mixes toe and toh
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. toe (CVV) and toh (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between toe and toh
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: toe is /təʊ/ while toh is [t˭o˦˨]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “toe” becomes h in “toh”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54390, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
toe is recorded at frequency rank #6,424, classified as anoun, pronounced /təʊ/. 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 54390, this pair ranks #141,439 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of toe vs toh
Shared letters: ot. Private to "toe": e. Private to "toh": h.
"toe" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "toh" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "toe" for "toh" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "toe" or "toh" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "toe" and "toh" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "toe" 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 #141,439 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "toe" and "toh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Taf vs toh". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #141,439 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.