Which to use
“tongo” is a noun and “tontos” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,729
- “tongo” frequency rank
- #5,902
- “tontos” frequency rank
- 48631
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tongo | tontos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fraude o estafa en la que se obtienen réditos por un acuerdo secreto que da ventaja a una de las partes en un proyecto o competencia. | Forma del plural de tonto. |
Where the eye mixes tongo and tontos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tongo runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against tontos's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tongo with tontos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tongo is [ˈt̪õŋgo] while tontos is [ˈt̪õn̪t̪os]. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48631, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tongo is recorded at frequency rank #42,729, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪õŋgo]. tontos is at rank #5,902, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪õn̪t̪os].
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 48631, this pair ranks #113,390 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tongo vs tontos
Shared letters: not. Private to "tongo": g. Private to "tontos": s.
"tongo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tontos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tongo" and "tontos" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tongo" or "tontos" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tongo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tontos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #113,390 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tongo" and "tontos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tone vs tongo". 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 #113,390 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.