Which to use
“tombé” is an adjective and “tome” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,342
- “tombé” frequency rank
- #2,801
- “tome” frequency rank
- 5143
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tombé | tome |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Déchu, qui n’a plus beaucoup de succès. | Division intellectuelle d’un ouvrage, correspondant ou pas avec un volume. |
Where the eye mixes tombé and tome
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tombé with tome
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tombé is \tɔ̃.be\ while tome is \tom\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tombé is recorded at frequency rank #2,342, classified as anadj, pronounced \tɔ̃.be\. tome is at rank #2,801, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tom\.
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 5143, this pair ranks #429,783 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tombé vs tome
Shared letters: mot. Private to "tombé": bé. Private to "tome": e.
"tombé" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tome" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- tome ← otme · tmoe · toem · tomme · ttome
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tombé" and "tome" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "tombé" or "tome"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tombé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tome" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #429,783 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tombé" and "tome" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "token vs tome". 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 #429,783 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.