Which to use
“té” and “tem” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,126
- “té” frequency rank
- #46,838
- “tem” frequency rank
- 50964
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | té | tem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (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. | Escalón. |
Where the eye mixes té and tem
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses té with tem
A purely visual mix-up. té ([ˈt̪e]) and tem (/tem/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50964, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
té is recorded at frequency rank #4,126, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪e]. tem is at rank #46,838, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tem/.
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 50964, this pair ranks #100,425 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of té vs tem
Shared letters: t. Private to "té": é. Private to "tem": em.
"té" · 2 letters · shape CV · "tem" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "té" for "tem" ever safe?
Frequency check: "té" vs "tem" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "té" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #100,425 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "té" and "tem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tem vs tomb". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #100,425 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.