tant vs tun, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“tant” is an adverb and “tun” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#231
“tant” frequency rank: #49,414
“tun” frequency rank: 49645
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	tant	tun
Definition	Tellement ; en grande quantité ; en nombre ; à un tel point.	Craie glauconieuse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tant and tun apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

tant

3 ch

tun

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tant is \tɑ̃\ while tun is \tyn\. 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 (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49645, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tant is recorded at frequency rank #231, classified as anadv, pronounced \tɑ̃\. tun is at rank #49,414, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tyn\.

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 49645, this pair ranks #168,951 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tant vs tun

Shared letters: nt. Private to "tant": a. Private to "tun": u.

"tant" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "tun" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

tant ← atnt · tannt · tantt · tatn · tnat · ttant

Frequency comparison

tant#231

tun#49,414

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tant" and "tun" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tant" is an adverb and "tun" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "tant" or "tun"?

"tant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #231 in our French list, against #49,414 for "tun". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering tant vs tun

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adverb, it's “tant”; for a noun, it's “tun”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tant” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable