Which to use
“tom” and “tos” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,600
- “tom” frequency rank
- #48,234
- “tos” frequency rank
- 50834
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tom | tos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Abréviation courante de tom-tom (instrument de percussion). | Élève de première année à l’École polytechnique. |
Where the eye mixes tom and tos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between tom and tos
A purely visual mix-up. tom (\tɔm\) 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 a single letter - m in “tom” becomes s in “tos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50834, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tom is recorded at frequency rank #2,600, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɔm\. 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 50834, this pair ranks #159,578 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tom vs tos
Shared letters: ot. Private to "tom": m. Private to "tos": s.
"tom" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "tos" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tom" for "tos" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tom" vs "tos" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "tom" and "tos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tom" 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 #159,578 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tom" and "tos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs tos". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #159,578 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.