Tempo vs temps, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“Tempo” is a noun and “temps” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,468
“Tempo” frequency rank: #37,813
“temps” frequency rank: 42281
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Tempo	temps
Definition	die Taktfrequenz in der Musik	3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs temp

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Tempo and temps apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

Tempo

5 ch

temps

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Tempo is anoun and tempsaverb. On the page they differ by a single letter - o in “Tempo” becomes s in “temps”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42281, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Tempo is recorded at frequency rank #4,468, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈtɛmpo]. temps is at rank #37,813, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 42281, this pair ranks #1,454,227 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Tempo vs temps

Shared letters: empt. Private to "Tempo": o. Private to "temps": s.

"Tempo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "temps" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

Tempo ← etmpo · temmpo · temop · temppo · tepmo · tmepo · ttempo
temps ← etmps · temmps · tempps · tempss · temsp · tepms · tmeps · ttemps

Frequency comparison

Tempo#4,468

temps#37,813

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Tempo" and "temps" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Tempo" is a noun and "temps" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "Tempo" or "temps"?

"Tempo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,468 in our German list, against #37,813 for "temps". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Tempo vs temps

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Tempo”; for a verb, it's “temps”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Tempo” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable