toavstuiWhich spelling fits?

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 eye mixes toa and tui

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. toa and tui follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

3 ch
toa
3 ch
tui

Why the eye confuses toa with tui

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

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.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "toa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #9,461 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "toa" and "tui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tui vs tul". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #9,461 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list