Which to use
“the” is an article and “til” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #93
- “the” frequency rank
- #44,136
- “til” frequency rank
- 44229
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | the | til |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o (artigo definido masculino singular) | sinal diacrítico (~) utilizado para modificar a pronúncia de determinadas letras no português (indicando nasalização) e em alguns outros idiomas ( bretão ...) |
Where the eye mixes the and til
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between the and til
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: the is /ðə/ (fraco, ou antes de consoante); /ðiː/ (enfático, ou antes de vogal) while til is /ˈʧiw/. 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 (article vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
the is recorded at frequency rank #93, classified as anarticle, pronounced /ðə/ (fraco, ou antes de consoante); /ðiː/ (enfático, ou antes de vogal). til is at rank #44,136, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈʧiw/.
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 44229, this pair ranks #21,283 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of the vs til
Shared letters: t. Private to "the": eh. Private to "til": il.
"the" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "til" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "the" and "til" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "the" vs "til" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "the" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "til" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #21,283 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "the" and "til" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tifo vs til". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #21,283 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.