Which to use
“took” is a verb and “top” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #292
- “took” frequency rank
- #244
- “top” frequency rank
- 536
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | took | top |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past of take | The highest or uppermost part of something. |
Where the eye mixes took and top
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: took vs top
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: took is /tʊk/ while top is /tɒp/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
took is recorded at frequency rank #292, classified as averb, pronounced /tʊk/. top is at rank #244, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɒp/.
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 536, this pair ranks #529,252 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of took vs top
Shared letters: ot. Private to "took": k. Private to "top": p.
"took" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "top" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- took ← otok · toko · tookk · ttook
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "took" for "top" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "took" or "top" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "took" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "top" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #529,252 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "took" and "top" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Taf vs top". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #529,252 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.