Which to use
“tôle” and “tos” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,762
- “tôle” frequency rank
- #48,234
- “tos” frequency rank
- 64996
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tôle | tos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plaque de métal laminé, de fine épaisseur utilisé pour la construction, l’automobile, l’aéronautique. | Élève de première année à l’École polytechnique. |
Where the eye mixes tôle and tos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. tôle runs 4 letters (CVCV) against tos's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: tôle vs tos
A purely visual mix-up. tôle (\tol\) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64996, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tôle is recorded at frequency rank #16,762, classified as anoun, pronounced \tol\. 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 64996, this pair ranks #74,374 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tôle vs tos
Shared letters: t. Private to "tôle": elô. Private to "tos": os.
"tôle" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "tos" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tôle" and "tos" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "tôle" or "tos" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tôle" 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 #74,374 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tôle" and "tos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs tos". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #74,374 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.