Which to use
“til” is a preposition and “toy” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,972
- “til” frequency rank
- #18,104
- “toy” frequency rank
- 47076
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | til | toy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hasta. | Toyaco. |
Where the eye mixes til and toy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses til with toy
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: til is /tɪl/ while toy is [ˈt̪oj]. 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 (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47076, 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/. toy is at rank #18,104, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪oj].
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 47076, this pair ranks #122,074 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of til vs toy
Shared letters: t. Private to "til": il. Private to "toy": oy.
"til" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "toy" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "til" and "toy" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "til" or "toy" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "til" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "toy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #122,074 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "til" and "toy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tale vs til". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #122,074 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.