tempsvstesConfusable pair

Quick tell: temps is a verb, tes is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#37,813
“temps” frequency rank
#44,969
“tes” frequency rank
82782
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature temps tes
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs temp Plural des Substantivs te

Letter map: temps vs tes

Shared letters muted; letters that set temps and tes apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
temps
3 ch
tes

Part-of-speech tell for temps / tes

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: temps is averb and tesanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82782, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

temps is recorded at frequency rank #37,813, classified as averb, pronounced […]. tes is at rank #44,969, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tɛs].

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 82782, this pair ranks #151,059 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of temps vs tes

Shared letters: est. Private to "temps": mp. Private to "tes": -.

"temps" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "tes" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tempsetmps · temmps · tempps · tempss · temsp · tepms · tmeps · ttemps

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "temps" and "tes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "temps" is a verb and "tes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "temps" vs "tes" - which ranks higher?
"temps" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,813 in our German list, against #44,969 for "tes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "temps" vs "tes" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "temps" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #151,059 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "temps" and "tes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tes vs trees". 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 #151,059 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list