tohvstorWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#47,966
“toh” frequency rank
#13,625
“tor” frequency rank
61591
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature toh tor
Definition To collapse (fail or break down internally); to fall asleep or collapse from exhaustion. A craggy outcrop of rock on the summit of a hill, created by the erosion and weathering of rock.

Where the eye mixes toh and tor

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
toh
3 ch
tor

Visual trap between toh and tor

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: toh is [t˭o˦˨] while tor is /tɔː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - h in “toh” becomes r in “tor”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61591, 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˦˨]. tor is at rank #13,625, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɔː/.

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 61591, this pair ranks #93,373 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of toh vs tor

Shared letters: ot. Private to "toh": h. Private to "tor": r.

"toh" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "tor" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "toh" and "tor" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "toh" is a verb and "tor" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "toh" vs "tor" - which ranks higher?
"tor" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,625 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.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "toh" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tor" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #93,373 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "toh" and "tor" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Taf vs toh". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #93,373 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list