toavstuiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: toa is a verb, tui is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“toa” is a verb and “tui” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,489
“toa” frequency rank
#42,740
“tui” frequency rank
82229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature toa tui
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de toar. Genitivo de la segunda persona singular.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set toa and tui apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
toa
3 ch
tui

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: toa is [ˈt̪oa] while tui is /ˈtu.iː/. 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 (verb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

toa is recorded at frequency rank #39,489, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪oa]. tui is at rank #42,740, tagged as apron, pronounced /ˈtu.iː/.

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 82229, this pair ranks #9,461 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of toa vs tui

Shared letters: t. Private to "toa": ao. Private to "tui": iu.

"toa" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "tui" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

toa#39,489
tui#42,740

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "toa" and "tui" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "toa" is a verb and "tui" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "toa" or "tui"?
"toa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,489 in our Spanish list, against #42,740 for "tui". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering toa vs tui

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “toa”; for a pronoun, it's “tui”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “toa” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list