todovstonsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: todo is a adjective, tons is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“todo” is an adjective and “tons” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,831
“todo” frequency rank
#12,272
“tons” frequency rank
61103
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature todo tons
Definition Entier, total, tout. Pluriel de ton.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set todo and tons apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
todo
4 ch
tons

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: todo is [ˈto.ðo] while tons is \tɔ̃\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61103, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

todo is recorded at frequency rank #48,831, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈto.ðo]. tons is at rank #12,272, tagged as anoun, 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 61103, this pair ranks #94,056 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of todo vs tons

Shared letters: ot. Private to "todo": d. Private to "tons": ns.

"todo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tons" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • todootdo · tdoo · toddo · tood · ttodo
  • tonsotns · tnos · tonns · tonss · tosn · ttons

Frequency comparison

todo#48,831
tons#12,272

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "todo" and "tons" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "todo" is an adjective and "tons" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "todo" or "tons"?
"tons" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,272 in our French list, against #48,831 for "todo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering todo vs tons

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “todo”; for a noun, it's “tons”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “todo” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list