to vs tun, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#1,128
“to” frequency rank: #34,821
“tun” frequency rank: 35949
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	to	tun
Definition	Dos.	Pasar, (acaecer).

Where the eye mixes to and tun

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch

3 ch

tun

Why the eye confuses to with tun

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: to is [toːˀ] while tun is [ˈtuːn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35949, 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]. tun is at rank #34,821, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtuːn].

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 35949, this pair ranks #183,307 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of to vs tun

Shared letters: t. Private to "to": o. Private to "tun": nu.

"to" · 2 letters · shape CV · "tun" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "to" for "tun" ever safe?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "to" is a num and "tun" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

In ordinary Spanish text, does "to" or "tun" show up more?

"to" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,128 in our Spanish list, against #34,821 for "tun". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

Full dictionary entry for "to" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "tun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #183,307 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"to" and "tun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tul vs tun". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #183,307 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.