Which to use
“til” is a preposition and “tío” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,972
- “til” frequency rank
- #2,229
- “tío” frequency rank
- 31201
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | til | tío |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hasta. | Hermano de la madre o del padre de una persona. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set til and tío apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
til and tío form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31201, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
til is recorded at frequency rank #28,972, classified as aprep, pronounced /tɪl/. tío is at rank #2,229, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪io].
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 31201, this pair ranks #208,263 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "til" and "tío" be used interchangeably?
Remembering til vs tío
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “til”; for a noun, it's “tío”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “til” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable