tocanvstocarConfusable pair

Which to use

“tocan” and “tocar” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,923
“tocan” frequency rank
#2,138
“tocar” frequency rank
10061
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tocan tocar
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de tocar. Percibir las cualidades de un objeto mediante el sentido del tacto.

Where the eye mixes tocan and tocar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
tocan
5 ch
tocar

Visual trap between tocan and tocar

A purely visual mix-up. tocan ([ˈt̪okãn]) and tocar ([t̪oˈkaɾ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - n in “tocan” becomes r in “tocar”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10061, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tocan is recorded at frequency rank #7,923, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪okãn]. tocar is at rank #2,138, tagged as averb, pronounced [t̪oˈkaɾ].

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 10061, this pair ranks #299,951 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tocan vs tocar

Shared letters: acot. Private to "tocan": n. Private to "tocar": r.

"tocan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "tocar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tocanotcan · tcoan · toacn · tocann · toccan · tocna · ttocan
  • tocarotcar · tcoar · toacr · tocarr · toccar · tocra · ttocar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tocan" and "tocar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt̪okãn] versus [t̪oˈkaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tocan" or "tocar" show up more?
"tocar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,138 in our Spanish list, against #7,923 for "tocan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "tocan" and "tocar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tocan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tocar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #299,951 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tocan" and "tocar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tacaño vs tocan". 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

Confusion rank #299,951 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