Which to use
“thu” and “tom” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,228
- “thu” frequency rank
- #2,600
- “tom” frequency rank
- 50828
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thu | tom |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forme mutée de tu par spirantisation. | Abréviation courante de tom-tom (instrument de percussion). |
Where the eye mixes thu and tom
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses thu with tom
A purely visual mix-up. thu (\θɨː\) and tom (\tɔm\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50828, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
thu is recorded at frequency rank #48,228, classified as anoun, pronounced \θɨː\. tom is at rank #2,600, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɔm\.
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 50828, this pair ranks #159,631 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of thu vs tom
Shared letters: t. Private to "thu": hu. Private to "tom": mo.
"thu" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "tom" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "thu" and "tom" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "thu" or "tom" 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 "thu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tom" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #159,631 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "thu" and "tom" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "thu vs tif". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #159,631 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.