Which to use
“tons” and “tou” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,272
- “tons” frequency rank
- #17,579
- “tou” frequency rank
- 29851
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tons | tou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de ton. | Serment. |
Where the eye mixes tons and tou
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between tons and tou
A purely visual mix-up. tons (\tɔ̃\) and tou (\ˈtu:\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29851, 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\. tou is at rank #17,579, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈtu:\.
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 29851, this pair ranks #314,071 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tons vs tou
Shared letters: ot. Private to "tons": ns. Private to "tou": u.
"tons" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "tou" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- tons ← otns · tnos · tonns · tonss · tosn · ttons
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tons" and "tou" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "tons" vs "tou" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "tons" and "tou" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #314,071 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tons" and "tou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs tou". 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 #314,071 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.