tunvsTurWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: tun is a verb, Tur is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tun” is a verb and “Tur” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,821
“tun” frequency rank
#43,311
“Tur” frequency rank
78132
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tun Tur
Definition Pasar, (acaecer). Apellido.

Where the eye mixes tun and Tur

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. tun and Tur follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

3 ch
tun
3 ch
Tur

Look-alike desk: tun vs Tur

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tun is [ˈtuːn] while Tur is [ˈt̪uɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “tun” becomes r in “Tur”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78132, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tun is recorded at frequency rank #34,821, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtuːn]. Tur is at rank #43,311, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈt̪uɾ].

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 78132, this pair ranks #14,919 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tun vs Tur

Shared letters: tu. Private to "tun": n. Private to "Tur": r.

"tun" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Tur" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tun" and "Tur" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tun" is a verb and "Tur" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tun" or "Tur" show up more?
"tun" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,821 in our Spanish list, against #43,311 for "Tur". 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 "tun" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Tur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #14,919 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tun" and "Tur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tul vs Tur". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #14,919 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