toedvstohWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: toed is a adjective, toh is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“toed” is an adjective and “toh” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#35,990
“toed” frequency rank
#47,966
“toh” frequency rank
83956
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature toed toh
Definition Having (a specified number or type of) toes. To collapse (fail or break down internally); to fall asleep or collapse from exhaustion.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set toed and toh apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
toed
3 ch
toh

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: toed is /təʊd/ while toh is [t˭o˦˨]. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83956, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

toed is recorded at frequency rank #35,990, classified as anadj, pronounced /təʊd/. 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 83956, this pair ranks #12,865 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of toed vs toh

Shared letters: ot. Private to "toed": de. Private to "toh": h.

"toed" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "toh" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • toedoted · teod · tode · toedd · ttoed

Frequency comparison

toed#35,990
toh#47,966

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "toed" and "toh" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "toed" is an adjective and "toh" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "toed" or "toh"?
"toed" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,990 in our English list, against #47,966 for "toh". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering toed vs toh

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “toed”; for a verb, it's “toh”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “toed” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list