tocasvstóxicasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tocas is a noun, tóxicas is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tocas” is a noun and “tóxicas” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,741
“tocas” frequency rank
#21,523
“tóxicas” frequency rank
37264
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tocas tóxicas
Definition Nombre con que se concedía el abono de dos mensualidades a las viudas de empleados para los gastos de funeral y lutos. Forma del femenino plural de tóxico.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tocas and tóxicas apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
tocas
7 ch
tóxicas

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tocas is [ˈt̪okas] while tóxicas is [ˈt̪oksikas]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37264, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tocas is recorded at frequency rank #15,741, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪okas]. tóxicas is at rank #21,523, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪oksikas].

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 37264, this pair ranks #176,213 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tocas vs tóxicas

Shared letters: acst. Private to "tocas": o. Private to "tóxicas": ixó.

"tocas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "tóxicas" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tocasotcas · tcoas · toacs · tocass · toccas · tocsa · ttocas

Frequency comparison

tocas#15,741
tóxicas#21,523

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tocas" and "tóxicas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tocas" is a noun and "tóxicas" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tocas" or "tóxicas"?
"tocas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,741 in our Spanish list, against #21,523 for "tóxicas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tocas vs tóxicas

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “tocas”; for an adjective, it's “tóxicas”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tocas” 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