Which to use
“toh” and “told” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,966
- “toh” frequency rank
- #268
- “told” frequency rank
- 48234
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | toh | told |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To collapse (fail or break down internally); to fall asleep or collapse from exhaustion. | simple past and past participle of tell |
Where the eye mixes toh and told
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. toh ([t˭o˦˨]) and told (/təʊld/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48234, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
toh is recorded at frequency rank #47,966, classified as averb, pronounced [t˭o˦˨]. told is at rank #268, tagged as averb, pronounced /təʊld/.
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 48234, this pair ranks #194,991 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of toh vs told
Shared letters: ot. Private to "toh": h. Private to "told": dl.
"toh" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "told" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- told ← otld · tlod · todl · toldd · tolld · ttold