tovstoutWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: to is a num, tout is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“to” is a num and “tout” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,128
“to” frequency rank
#47,459
“tout” frequency rank
48587
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature to tout
Definition Dos. Todo

Where the eye mixes to and tout

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

2 ch
to
4 ch
tout

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: to is [toːˀ] while tout is /ˈtutː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “to” sits inside “tout”, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48587, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

to is recorded at frequency rank #1,128, classified as anum, pronounced [toːˀ]. tout is at rank #47,459, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈtutː/.

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 48587, this pair ranks #113,642 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of to vs tout

Shared letters: ot. Private to "to": -. Private to "tout": u.

"to" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "tout" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • toutotut · totu · toutt · ttout · tuot

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "to" and "tout" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "to" is a num and "tout" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "to" or "tout"?
"to" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,128 in our Spanish list, against #47,459 for "tout". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "to" and "tout". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "to" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tout" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #113,642 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "to" and "tout" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tout vs toys". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list