tomenvstonWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tomen is a verb, ton is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tomen” is a verb and “ton” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,842
“tomen” frequency rank
#21,515
“ton” frequency rank
26357
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tomen ton
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de tomar o de tomarse. Apócope de tono, que solo tiene uso en las frases familiares "sin ton ni son" y "sin ton y sin son", que significan: sin motivo, ocasión o causa, o fuera de orden y medida. También suele decirse alguna vez: ¿A qué ton o a qué son viene eso?

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tomen and ton apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
tomen
3 ch
ton

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tomen is [ˈt̪omẽn] while ton is [ˈt̪õn]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26357, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tomen is recorded at frequency rank #4,842, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪omẽn]. ton is at rank #21,515, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪õn].

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 26357, this pair ranks #232,031 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tomen vs ton

Shared letters: not. Private to "tomen": em. Private to "ton": -.

"tomen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "ton" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tomenotmen · tmoen · toemn · tomenn · tommen · tomne · ttomen

Frequency comparison

tomen#4,842
ton#21,515

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tomen" and "ton" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tomen" is a verb and "ton" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tomen" or "ton"?
"tomen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,842 in our Spanish list, against #21,515 for "ton". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tomen vs ton

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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