tomasvstombésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tomas is a verb, tombés is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tomas” is a verb and “tombés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,410
“tomas” frequency rank
#8,170
“tombés” frequency rank
32580
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tomas tombés
Definition Deuxième personne du singulier du passé simple de tomer. Masculin pluriel de tombé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tomas and tombés apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
tomas
6 ch
tombés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tomas is \tɔ.ma\ while tombés is \tɔ̃.be\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32580, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tomas is recorded at frequency rank #24,410, classified as averb, pronounced \tɔ.ma\. tombés is at rank #8,170, tagged as anadj, pronounced \tɔ̃.be\.

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 32580, this pair ranks #296,339 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tomas vs tombés

Shared letters: most. Private to "tomas": a. Private to "tombés": .

"tomas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "tombés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tomasotmas · tmoas · toams · tomass · tommas · tomsa · ttomas

Frequency comparison

tomas#24,410
tombés#8,170

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tomas" and "tombés" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tomas" is a verb and "tombés" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tomas" or "tombés"?
"tombés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,170 in our French list, against #24,410 for "tomas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tomas vs tombés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “tomas”; for an adjective, it's “tombés”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tomas” 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