tosvstríosTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,550
“tos” frequency rank
#40,581
“tríos” frequency rank
50131
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tos tríos
Definition Contracción espasmódica repentina y a veces repetitiva de la cavidad torácica que resulta en una liberación violenta del aire de los pulmones produciendo un sonido característico. Forma del plural de trío.

Where the eye mixes tos and tríos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tos runs 3 letters (CVC) against tríos's 5 (CCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
tos
5 ch
tríos

Visual trap between tos and tríos

A purely visual mix-up. tos ([ˈt̪os]) and tríos ([ˈt̪ɾios]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50131, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tos is recorded at frequency rank #9,550, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪os]. tríos is at rank #40,581, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪ɾios].

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 50131, this pair ranks #104,920 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tos vs tríos

Shared letters: ost. Private to "tos": -. Private to "tríos": rí.

"tos" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "tríos" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tos" and "tríos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt̪os] versus [ˈt̪ɾios]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tos" vs "tríos" - which ranks higher?
"tos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,550 in our Spanish list, against #40,581 for "tríos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tríos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #104,920 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tos" and "tríos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tamos vs tríos". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #104,920 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