Which to use
“thu” is a noun and “tot” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,228
- “thu” frequency rank
- #15,273
- “tot” frequency rank
- 63501
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thu | tot |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Forme mutée de tu par spirantisation. | Mort, qui ne vit plus. |
Where the eye mixes thu and tot
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses thu with tot
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: thu is \θɨː\ while tot is \toːt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63501, 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\. tot is at rank #15,273, tagged as anadj, pronounced \toːt\.
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 63501, this pair ranks #81,644 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of thu vs tot
Shared letters: t. Private to "thu": hu. Private to "tot": o.
"thu" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "tot" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "thu" for "tot" ever safe?
Frequency check: "thu" vs "tot" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "thu" and "tot" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "thu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tot" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #81,644 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "thu" and "tot" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "thu vs tif". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #81,644 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.