Which to use
“tir” and “tos” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,969
- “tir” frequency rank
- #48,234
- “tos” frequency rank
- 51203
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tir | tos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action, art de tirer, de faire partir une arme de jet ou une arme à feu dans une direction déterminée. | Élève de première année à l’École polytechnique. |
Where the eye mixes tir and tos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tir with tos
A purely visual mix-up. tir (\tiʁ\) and tos (\tos\) 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 51203, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tir is recorded at frequency rank #2,969, classified as anoun, pronounced \tiʁ\. tos is at rank #48,234, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tos\.
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 51203, this pair ranks #156,800 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tir vs tos
Shared letters: t. Private to "tir": ir. Private to "tos": os.
"tir" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "tos" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tir" and "tos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "tir" vs "tos" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #156,800 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tir" and "tos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs tos". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #156,800 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.