Which to use
“tous” is an adjective and “toussa” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #79
- “tous” frequency rank
- #15,275
- “toussa” frequency rank
- 15354
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tous | toussa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de tout. | Et cetera. |
Where the eye mixes tous and toussa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tous with toussa
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tous is \tu\ while toussa is \tu.sa\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “tous” sits inside “toussa”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15354, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tous is recorded at frequency rank #79, classified as anadj, pronounced \tu\. toussa is at rank #15,275, tagged as apron, pronounced \tu.sa\.
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 15354, this pair ranks #392,731 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tous vs toussa
Shared letters: ostu. Private to "tous": -. Private to "toussa": a.
"tous" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "toussa" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tous" for "toussa" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tous" vs "toussa" - 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 "tous" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "toussa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #392,731 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tous" and "toussa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "toucha vs toussa". 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 #392,731 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.