Which to use
“true” is an adjective and “tun” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,495
- “true” frequency rank
- #49,414
- “tun” frequency rank
- 61909
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | true | tun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vrai , vraie. | Craie glauconieuse. |
Where the eye mixes true and tun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: true vs tun
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: true is \tɹu\ while tun is \tyn\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61909, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
true is recorded at frequency rank #12,495, classified as anadj, pronounced \tɹu\. 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 61909, this pair ranks #89,807 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of true vs tun
Shared letters: tu. Private to "true": er. Private to "tun": n.
"true" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "tun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- true ← rtue · treu · trrue · ttrue
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "true" for "tun" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "true" or "tun" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "true" 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 #89,807 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "true" and "tun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs tun". 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 #89,807 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.