Which to use
“tou” and “TV” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,579
- “tou” frequency rank
- #1,792
- “TV” frequency rank
- 19371
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tou | TV |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Serment. | Télévision ; téléviseur. |
Where the eye mixes tou and TV
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tou with TV
A purely visual mix-up. tou (\ˈtu:\) and TV (\te.ve\) 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 19371, 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:\. TV is at rank #1,792, tagged as anoun, pronounced \te.ve\.
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 19371, this pair ranks #373,608 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tou vs TV
Shared letters: t. Private to "tou": ou. Private to "TV": v.
"tou" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "TV" · 2 letters · shape CC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tou" for "TV" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "tou" or "TV" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tou" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "TV" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #373,608 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tou" and "TV" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs tou". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #373,608 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.