Which to use
“tools” and “tours” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,232
- “tools” frequency rank
- #2,105
- “tours” frequency rank
- 50337
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tools | tours |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de tool. | Pluriel de tour. |
Where the eye mixes tools and tours
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: tools vs tours
A purely visual mix-up. tools (\tuːlz\) and tours (\tuʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50337, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tools is recorded at frequency rank #48,232, classified as anoun, pronounced \tuːlz\. tours is at rank #2,105, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tuʁ\.
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 50337, this pair ranks #163,427 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tools vs tours
Shared letters: ost. Private to "tools": l. Private to "tours": ru.
"tools" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "tours" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tools" and "tours" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "tools" or "tours"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "tools" and "tours" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tools" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tours" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #163,427 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tools" and "tours" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tools vs tos". 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 #163,427 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.