Which to use
“tam” is an adverb and “té” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,525
- “tam” frequency rank
- #4,126
- “té” frequency rank
- 24651
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tam | té |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tan. | (Camellia sinensis) Arbusto de la famila de las cameliáceas, originario de Assam y de Bengala. Fue cultivado en China desde el siglo IV e introducido en Europa en el siglo XVI. Es perenne, de no más de 4 metros de altura, con hojas lanceoladas, ligeramente pubescentes, de hasta 15 centímetros de longitud y 5 de ancho. Las flores son blanco-amarillentas. |
Where the eye mixes tam and té
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tam with té
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tam is [ˈtam] while té is [ˈt̪e]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24651, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tam is recorded at frequency rank #20,525, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈtam]. té is at rank #4,126, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪e].
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 24651, this pair ranks #240,154 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tam vs té
Shared letters: t. Private to "tam": am. Private to "té": é.
"tam" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "té" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tam" and "té" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tam" or "té" show up more?
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 "tam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "té" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #240,154 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tam" and "té" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tam vs task". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #240,154 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.