Which to use
“tos” is a noun and “très” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,234
- “tos” frequency rank
- #78
- “très” frequency rank
- 48312
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tos | très |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Élève de première année à l’École polytechnique. | Beaucoup, au plus haut point (devant un adjectif ou un adverbe). |
Where the eye mixes tos and très
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. tos runs 3 letters (CVC) against très's 4 (CCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tos with très
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tos is \tos\ while très is \tʁɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48312, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tos is recorded at frequency rank #48,234, classified as anoun, pronounced \tos\. très is at rank #78, tagged as anadv, pronounced \tʁɛ\.
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 48312, this pair ranks #179,889 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tos vs très
Shared letters: st. Private to "tos": o. Private to "très": rè.
"tos" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "très" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tos" for "très" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tos" vs "très" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "très" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #179,889 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tos" and "très" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs tos". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #179,889 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.