Which to use
“tenons” and “thons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,371
- “tenons” frequency rank
- #48,227
- “thons” frequency rank
- 62598
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tenons | thons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de tenon. | Pluriel de thon. |
Where the eye mixes tenons and thons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tenons with thons
A purely visual mix-up. tenons (\tə.nɔ̃\) and thons (\tɔ̃\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62598, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tenons is recorded at frequency rank #14,371, classified as anoun, pronounced \tə.nɔ̃\. thons is at rank #48,227, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɔ̃\.
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 62598, this pair ranks #86,278 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tenons vs thons
Shared letters: nost. Private to "tenons": e. Private to "thons": h.
"tenons" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "thons" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tenons" for "thons" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tenons" vs "thons" - which ranks higher?
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 "tenons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "thons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #86,278 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tenons" and "thons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "thons vs trônes". 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 #86,278 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.