toitsvstonteTell them apart

Which to use

“toits” and “tonte” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,420
“toits” frequency rank
#38,573
“tonte” frequency rank
48993
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature toits tonte
Definition Pluriel de toit. Action de tondre la laine, la pelouse, etc.

Where the eye mixes toits and tonte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. toits (CVVCC) and tonte (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
toits
5 ch
tonte

Why the eye confuses toits with tonte

A purely visual mix-up. toits (\twa\) and tonte (\tɔ̃t\) 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 48993, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

toits is recorded at frequency rank #10,420, classified as anoun, pronounced \twa\. tonte is at rank #38,573, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɔ̃t\.

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 48993, this pair ranks #174,372 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of toits vs tonte

Shared letters: ot. Private to "toits": is. Private to "tonte": en.

"toits" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "tonte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • toits ← otits · tiots · toist · toitss · toitts · totis · ttoits
  • tonte ← otnte · tnote · tonet · tonnte · tontte · totne · ttonte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "toits" and "tonte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\twa\ versus \tɔ̃t\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "toits" or "tonte"?
"toits" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,420 in our French list, against #38,573 for "tonte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "toits" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tonte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #174,372 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "toits" and "tonte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tinto vs tonte". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #174,372 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list