tijeravstoleraTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#23,248
“tijera” frequency rank
#23,622
“tolera” frequency rank
46870
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tijera tolera
Definition Herramienta para cortar, formada por dos hojas cruzadas y unidas por un perno que las articula, moviéndose los extremos sin filo para cerrar el lado opuesto y cortar el material que allí se coloque. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de tolerar.

Where the eye mixes tijera and tolera

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tijera and tolera follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
tijera
6 ch
tolera

Visual trap between tijera and tolera

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tijera is [t̪iˈxeɾa] while tolera is [t̪oˈleɾa]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46870, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tijera is recorded at frequency rank #23,248, classified as anoun, pronounced [t̪iˈxeɾa]. tolera is at rank #23,622, tagged as averb, pronounced [t̪oˈleɾa].

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 46870, this pair ranks #123,271 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tijera vs tolera

Shared letters: aert. Private to "tijera": ij. Private to "tolera": lo.

"tijera" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "tolera" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tijera ← itjera · tiejra · tijear · tijerra · tijjera · tijrea · tjiera · ttijera
  • tolera ← otlera · tloera · toelra · tolear · tollera · tolrea · ttolera

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tijera" for "tolera" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tijera" is a noun and "tolera" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tijera" or "tolera"?
"tijera" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,248 in our Spanish list, against #23,622 for "tolera". 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 "tijera" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tolera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #123,271 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tijera" and "tolera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Tejero vs tijera". 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 #123,271 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