tomovstopoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“tomo” and “topo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,352
“tomo” frequency rank
#2,450
“topo” frequency rank
8802
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tomo topo
Definition volume de obra impressa ou manuscrita ápice, cume, ponto mais elevado

Where the eye mixes tomo and topo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
tomo
4 ch
topo

Why the eye confuses tomo with topo

A purely visual mix-up. tomo (/ˈto.mu/) and topo (/ˈto.pu/) 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 a single letter - m in “tomo” becomes p in “topo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8802, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tomo is recorded at frequency rank #6,352, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈto.mu/. topo is at rank #2,450, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈto.pu/.

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 8802, this pair ranks #64,847 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tomo vs topo

Shared letters: ot. Private to "tomo": m. Private to "topo": p.

"tomo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "topo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tomootmo · tmoo · tommo · toom · ttomo
  • topootpo · toop · toppo · tpoo · ttopo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tomo" and "topo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈto.mu/ versus /ˈto.pu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tomo" or "topo"?
"topo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,450 in our Portuguese list, against #6,352 for "tomo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tomo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "topo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #64,847 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tomo" and "topo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tomo vs tufo". 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 #64,847 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list