Which to use
“tocam” is a verb and “tom” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,154
- “tocam” frequency rank
- #1,262
- “tom” frequency rank
- 13416
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tocam | tom |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | terceira pessoa do plural do presente do indicativo do verbo tocar | qualquer som, no que se refere à sua amplitude, fonte, potência, etc.: |
Where the eye mixes tocam and tom
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: tocam vs tom
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tocam is /ˈtɔ.kɐ̃w̃/ [ˈtɔ.kɐ̃ʊ̯̃] while tom is /ˈtõ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13416, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tocam is recorded at frequency rank #12,154, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈtɔ.kɐ̃w̃/ [ˈtɔ.kɐ̃ʊ̯̃]. tom is at rank #1,262, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtõ/.
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 13416, this pair ranks #58,940 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tocam vs tom
Shared letters: mot. Private to "tocam": ac. Private to "tom": -.
"tocam" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "tom" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- tocam ← otcam · tcoam · toacm · tocamm · toccam · tocma · ttocam
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tocam" for "tom" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "tocam" or "tom" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "tocam" and "tom" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tocam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tom" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #58,940 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tocam" and "tom" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tocam vs tosa". 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 #58,940 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.