Which to use
“than” is a conjunction and “ton” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,575
- “than” frequency rank
- #127
- “ton” frequency rank
- 17702
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | than | ton |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (Comparatif + than + proposition) Que (comparaison). | Déterminant possessif dont le possesseur est la deuxième personne du singulier et le possédé est masculin singulier. |
Where the eye mixes than and ton
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses than with ton
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: than is \ˈðæn\ while ton is \tɔ̃\. 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 (conjunction vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17702, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
than is recorded at frequency rank #17,575, classified as aconj, pronounced \ˈðæn\. ton is at rank #127, tagged as adet, 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 17702, this pair ranks #381,878 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of than vs ton
Shared letters: nt. Private to "than": ah. Private to "ton": o.
"than" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "ton" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- than ← htan · tahn · thann · thhan · thna · tthan
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "than" and "ton" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "than" or "ton" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "than" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ton" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #381,878 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "than" and "ton" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "than vs tun". 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 #381,878 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.