Which to use
“tête” and “toe” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #237
- “tête” frequency rank
- #47,652
- “toe” frequency rank
- 47889
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tête | toe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie supérieure du corps, qui est le siège du cerveau et des principaux organes des sens, et qui, chez l’être humain et chez la plupart des vertébrés, tient au reste du corps par le cou. | Doigt de pied, orteil. |
Where the eye mixes tête and toe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between tête and toe
A purely visual mix-up. tête (\tɛt\) and toe (\təʊ\) 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 47889, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tête is recorded at frequency rank #237, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɛt\. toe is at rank #47,652, tagged as anoun, pronounced \təʊ\.
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 47889, this pair ranks #183,346 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tête vs toe
Shared letters: et. Private to "tête": ê. Private to "toe": o.
"tête" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "toe" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tête" for "toe" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "tête" or "toe" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tête" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "toe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #183,346 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tête" and "toe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs toe". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #183,346 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.