Which to use
“tondu” is an adjective and “tongs” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,187
- “tondu” frequency rank
- #32,221
- “tongs” frequency rank
- 75408
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tondu | tongs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que l’on a tondu. | Pluriel de tong. |
Where the eye mixes tondu and tongs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tondu (CVCCV) and tongs (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: tondu vs tongs
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tondu is \tɔ̃.dy\ while tongs is \tɔ̃ɡ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75408, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tondu is recorded at frequency rank #43,187, classified as anadj, pronounced \tɔ̃.dy\. tongs is at rank #32,221, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɔ̃ɡ\.
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 75408, this pair ranks #34,179 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tondu vs tongs
Shared letters: not. Private to "tondu": du. Private to "tongs": gs.
"tondu" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tongs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tondu" for "tongs" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tondu" or "tongs"?
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 "tondu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tongs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #34,179 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tondu" and "tongs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "todo vs tondu". 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 #34,179 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.