tomavstumbaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#869
“toma” frequency rank
#4,561
“tumba” frequency rank
5430
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature toma tumba
Definition Acción o efecto de tomar (recibir o encargarse de algo). Sitio donde se entierra o deposita un cadáver

Where the eye mixes toma and tumba

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
toma
5 ch
tumba

Why the eye confuses toma with tumba

A purely visual mix-up. toma ([ˈt̪oma]) and tumba ([ˈt̪ũmba]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5430, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

toma is recorded at frequency rank #869, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪oma]. tumba is at rank #4,561, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪ũmba].

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 5430, this pair ranks #313,645 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of toma vs tumba

Shared letters: amt. Private to "toma": o. Private to "tumba": bu.

"toma" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tumba" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tomaotma · tmoa · toam · tomma · ttoma
  • tumbatmuba · ttumba · tubma · tumab · tumbba · tummba · tumva · utmba

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "toma" for "tumba" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt̪oma] versus [ˈt̪ũmba]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "toma" or "tumba"?
"toma" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #869 in our Spanish list, against #4,561 for "tumba". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "toma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tumba" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #313,645 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "toma" and "tumba" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tomb vs tumba". 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 #313,645 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