toavstusTell them apart

Quick tell: toa is a verb, tus is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#39,489
“toa” frequency rank
#230
“tus” frequency rank
39719
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature toa tus
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de toar. Se usa para llamar a los perros, generalmente repetida.

Where the eye mixes toa and tus

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

3 ch
toa
3 ch
tus

Visual trap between toa and tus

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: toa is [ˈt̪oa] 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 (verb vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39719, 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]. 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 39719, this pair ranks #163,017 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of toa vs tus

Shared letters: t. Private to "toa": ao. Private to "tus": su.

"toa" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "tus" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "toa" and "tus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "toa" is a verb and "tus" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "toa" vs "tus" - which ranks higher?
"tus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #230 in our Spanish list, against #39,489 for "toa". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "toa" 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 #163,017 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "toa" and "tus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "toa vs toys". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #163,017 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