Which to use
“tur” is a noun and “turn” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,138
- “tur” frequency rank
- #484
- “turn” frequency rank
- 39622
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tur | turn |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Either of two species of wild goat native to Caucasus, West Caucasian tur Capra caucasica or East Caucasian tur Capra cylindricornis. | To make a non-linear physical movement. |
Where the eye mixes tur and turn
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between tur and turn
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tur is /tʊə/ while turn is /tɜːn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “tur” sits inside “turn”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39622, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tur is recorded at frequency rank #39,138, classified as anoun, pronounced /tʊə/. turn is at rank #484, tagged as averb, pronounced /tɜːn/.
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 39622, this pair ranks #274,986 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tur vs turn
Shared letters: rtu. Private to "tur": -. Private to "turn": n.
"tur" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "turn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- turn ← trun · tturn · tunr · turnn · turrn · utrn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tur" for "turn" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tur" vs "turn" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tur" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "turn" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #274,986 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tur" and "turn" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tuft vs tur". 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 #274,986 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.