Which to use
“toc” is an onomatopoeia and “toe” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,684
- “toc” frequency rank
- #47,652
- “toe” frequency rank
- 60336
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | toc | toe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Onomatopée servant à exprimer un bruit sec, un choc. | Doigt de pied, orteil. |
Where the eye mixes toc and toe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses toc with toe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: toc is \tɔk\ while toe is \təʊ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - c in “toc” becomes e in “toe”, and the parts of speech differ too (onomatopoeia vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60336, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
toc is recorded at frequency rank #12,684, classified as anonomatopoeia, pronounced \tɔk\. 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 60336, this pair ranks #98,139 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of toc vs toe
Shared letters: ot. Private to "toc": c. Private to "toe": e.
"toc" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "toe" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "toc" for "toe" ever safe?
Which is more common, "toc" or "toe"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "toc" and "toe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "toc" 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 #98,139 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "toc" and "toe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs toe". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #98,139 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.