Which to use
“té” is a noun and “tuve” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,126
- “té” frequency rank
- #1,047
- “tuve” frequency rank
- 5173
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | té | tuve |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de tener o de tenerse. |
Where the eye mixes té and tuve
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses té with tuve
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: té is [ˈt̪e] while tuve is [ˈt̪uβ̞e]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5173, 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]. tuve is at rank #1,047, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪uβ̞e].
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 5173, this pair ranks #314,299 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of té vs tuve
Shared letters: t. Private to "té": é. Private to "tuve": euv.
"té" · 2 letters · shape CV · "tuve" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- tuve ← ttuve · tuev · tuvve · tvue · utve
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "té" and "tuve" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "té" vs "tuve" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "té" and "tuve" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "té" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tuve" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #314,299 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "té" and "tuve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tale vs té". 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 #314,299 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.