tomesvstosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“tomes” and “tos” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#11,493
“tomes” frequency rank
#48,234
“tos” frequency rank
59727
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tomes tos
Definition Pluriel de tome. Élève de première année à l’École polytechnique.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tomes and tos apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
tomes
3 ch
tos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. tomes (\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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59727, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tomes is recorded at frequency rank #11,493, 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 59727, this pair ranks #101,502 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tomes vs tos

Shared letters: ost. Private to "tomes": em. Private to "tos": -.

"tomes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "tos" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tomesotmes · tmoes · toems · tomess · tommes · tomse · ttomes

Frequency comparison

tomes#11,493
tos#48,234

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tomes" and "tos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\tɔm\ versus \tos\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tomes" or "tos"?
"tomes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,493 in our French list, against #48,234 for "tos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tomes vs tos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tomes” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list