toedvstotesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: toed is a adjective, totes is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#35,990
“toed” frequency rank
#31,383
“totes” frequency rank
67373
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature toed totes
Definition Having (a specified number or type of) toes. Totally.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set toed and totes apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
toed
5 ch
totes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: toed is anadjective and totesanadverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67373, 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/. totes is at rank #31,383, tagged as anadv.

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 67373, this pair ranks #63,598 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of toed vs totes

Shared letters: eot. Private to "toed": d. Private to "totes": s.

"toed" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "totes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • toedoted · teod · tode · toedd · ttoed
  • totesottes · toets · totess · totse · tottes · ttotes

Frequency comparison

toed#35,990
totes#31,383

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "toed" and "totes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "toed" is an adjective and "totes" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "toed" or "totes"?
"totes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,383 in our English list, against #35,990 for "toed". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering toed vs totes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “toed”; for an adverb, it's “totes”.
  • 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