Which to use
“tío” is a noun and “tus” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,229
- “tío” frequency rank
- #230
- “tus” frequency rank
- 2459
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tío | tus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hermano de la madre o del padre de una persona. | Se usa para llamar a los perros, generalmente repetida. |
Where the eye mixes tío and tus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tío with tus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tío is [ˈt̪io] while tus is [t̪us]. 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 intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2459, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tío is recorded at frequency rank #2,229, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪io]. tus is at rank #230, tagged as anintj, pronounced [t̪us].
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 2459, this pair ranks #320,280 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tío vs tus
Shared letters: t. Private to "tío": oí. Private to "tus": su.
"tío" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "tus" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tío" and "tus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tío" or "tus" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tío" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #320,280 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tío" and "tus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tapo vs tío". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #320,280 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.