Which to use
“ton” is a noun and “tú” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,515
- “ton” frequency rank
- #310
- “tú” frequency rank
- 21825
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ton | tú |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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? | Nominativo y vocativo del pronombre personal de la segunda persona del singular. |
Where the eye mixes ton and tú
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between ton and tú
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ton is [ˈt̪õn] while tú is [ˈt̪u]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21825, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ton is recorded at frequency rank #21,515, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪õn]. tú is at rank #310, tagged as apron, pronounced [ˈt̪u].
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 21825, this pair ranks #253,176 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ton vs tú
Shared letters: t. Private to "ton": no. Private to "tú": ú.
"ton" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "tú" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ton" for "tú" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "ton" or "tú" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ton" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tú" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #253,176 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ton" and "tú" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ton vs toys". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #253,176 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.