Which to use
“Tokio” and “Tonkin” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,918
- “Tokio” frequency rank
- #31,766
- “Tonkin” frequency rank
- 77684
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Tokio | Tonkin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ancienne orthographe de Tokyo (ville du Japon). | Ancienne colonie française d’Indochine, correspondant à la partie septentrionale du Viêt Nam actuel (les deux autres parties étant l’Annam et la Cochinchine). |
Where the eye mixes Tokio and Tonkin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Tokio runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against Tonkin's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between Tokio and Tonkin
A purely visual mix-up. Tokio (\to.kjo\) and Tonkin (\tɔ̃.kɛ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77684, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Tokio is recorded at frequency rank #45,918, classified as aname, pronounced \to.kjo\. Tonkin is at rank #31,766, tagged as aname, pronounced \tɔ̃.kɛ̃\.
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 77684, this pair ranks #27,697 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of Tokio vs Tonkin
Shared letters: ikot. Private to "Tokio": -. Private to "Tonkin": n.
"Tokio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "Tonkin" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Tokio" and "Tonkin" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "Tokio" or "Tonkin" show up more?
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 "Tokio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Tonkin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #27,697 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Tokio" and "Tonkin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "token vs Tokio". 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 #27,697 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.