Which to use
“tos” is a noun and “tua” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,234
- “tos” frequency rank
- #23,403
- “tua” frequency rank
- 71637
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tos | tua |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Élève de première année à l’École polytechnique. | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de tuer. |
Where the eye mixes tos and tua
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. tos (CVC) and tua (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between tos and tua
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tos is \tos\ while tua is \tɥa\. 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 71637, 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\. tua is at rank #23,403, tagged as averb, pronounced \tɥa\.
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 71637, this pair ranks #46,851 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tos vs tua
Shared letters: t. Private to "tos": os. Private to "tua": au.
"tos" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "tua" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tos" for "tua" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tos" vs "tua" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
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 "tua" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #46,851 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tos" and "tua" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs tos". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #46,851 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.