Which to use
“tons” is a noun and “tord” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,272
- “tons” frequency rank
- #10,800
- “tord” frequency rank
- 23072
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tons | tord |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de ton. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de tordre. |
Where the eye mixes tons and tord
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tons with tord
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tons is \tɔ̃\ while tord is \tɔʁ\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tons is recorded at frequency rank #12,272, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɔ̃\. tord is at rank #10,800, tagged as averb, pronounced \tɔʁ\.
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 23072, this pair ranks #354,532 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tons vs tord
Shared letters: ot. Private to "tons": ns. Private to "tord": dr.
"tons" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "tord" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tons" for "tord" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tons" or "tord"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tord" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #354,532 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tons" and "tord" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tons vs tun". 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 #354,532 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.