tohvstuiWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#47,966
“toh” frequency rank
#38,658
“tui” frequency rank
86624
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature toh tui
Definition To collapse (fail or break down internally); to fall asleep or collapse from exhaustion. A species of honeyeater, Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae, a bird which is endemic to New Zealand.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set toh and tui apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
toh
3 ch
tui

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: toh is [t˭o˦˨] while tui is /ˈtʉi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86624, 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˦˨]. tui is at rank #38,658, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtʉi/.

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 86624, this pair ranks #8,717 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of toh vs tui

Shared letters: t. Private to "toh": ho. Private to "tui": iu.

"toh" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "tui" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

toh#47,966
tui#38,658

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "toh" and "tui" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "toh" is a verb and "tui" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "toh" or "tui"?
"tui" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,658 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 toh vs tui

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “toh”; for a noun, it's “tui”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “toh” 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