Which to use
“tom” and “tombo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,262
- “tom” frequency rank
- #19,867
- “tombo” frequency rank
- 21129
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tom | tombo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | qualquer som, no que se refere à sua amplitude, fonte, potência, etc.: | ato ou efeito de tombar; queda |
Where the eye mixes tom and tombo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tom with tombo
A purely visual mix-up. tom (/ˈtõ/) and tombo (/ˈtõ.bu/) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “tom” sits inside “tombo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21129, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tom is recorded at frequency rank #1,262, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtõ/. tombo is at rank #19,867, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtõ.bu/.
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 21129, this pair ranks #49,219 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tom vs tombo
Shared letters: mot. Private to "tom": -. Private to "tombo": b.
"tom" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "tombo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- tombo ← otmbo · tmobo · tobmo · tombbo · tommbo · tomob · ttombo
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tom" for "tombo" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tom" or "tombo"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "tom" and "tombo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tom" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tombo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #49,219 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tom" and "tombo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tampo vs tombo". 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 #49,219 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.