taevstosConfusable pair

Which to use

“tae” and “tos” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,830
“tae” frequency rank
#9,550
“tos” frequency rank
27380
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tae tos
Definition Té. Contracción espasmódica repentina y a veces repetitiva de la cavidad torácica que resulta en una liberación violenta del aire de los pulmones produciendo un sonido característico.

Where the eye mixes tae and tos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
tae
3 ch
tos

Look-alike desk: tae vs tos

A purely visual mix-up. tae ([t̪ˠeː]) and tos ([ˈt̪os]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27380, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tae is recorded at frequency rank #17,830, classified as anoun, pronounced [t̪ˠeː]. tos is at rank #9,550, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪os].

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 27380, this pair ranks #227,085 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tae vs tos

Shared letters: t. Private to "tae": ae. Private to "tos": os.

"tae" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "tos" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tae" and "tos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([t̪ˠeː] versus [ˈt̪os]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tae" or "tos" show up more?
"tos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,550 in our Spanish list, against #17,830 for "tae". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "tae" and "tos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tae" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #227,085 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tae" and "tos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tae vs task". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #227,085 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list