Which to use
“tou” and “tun” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,579
- “tou” frequency rank
- #49,414
- “tun” frequency rank
- 66993
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tou | tun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Serment. | Craie glauconieuse. |
Where the eye mixes tou and tun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. tou (CVV) and tun (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses tou with tun
A purely visual mix-up. tou (\ˈtu:\) and tun (\tyn\) 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 66993, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tou is recorded at frequency rank #17,579, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈtu:\. tun is at rank #49,414, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tyn\.
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 66993, this pair ranks #65,392 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tou vs tun
Shared letters: tu. Private to "tou": o. Private to "tun": n.
"tou" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "tun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tou" and "tun" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "tou" or "tun"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tou" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #65,392 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tou" and "tun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs tun". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #65,392 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.