tejovstempoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“tejo” and “tempo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#46,836
“tejo” frequency rank
#21,847
“tempo” frequency rank
68683
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tejo tempo
Definition Pedazo de piedra plana y redondeada, o trozo de teja que se usa en diversos juegos. Tiempo.

Where the eye mixes tejo and tempo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tejo runs 4 letters (CVCV) against tempo's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
tejo
5 ch
tempo

Look-alike desk: tejo vs tempo

A purely visual mix-up. tejo ([ˈt̪exo]) and tempo ([ˈt̪ẽmpo]) 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 68683, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tejo is recorded at frequency rank #46,836, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪exo]. tempo is at rank #21,847, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪ẽmpo].

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 68683, this pair ranks #33,849 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tejo vs tempo

Shared letters: eot. Private to "tejo": j. Private to "tempo": mp.

"tejo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tempo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tejo ← etjo · tejjo · teoj · tjeo · ttejo
  • tempo ← etmpo · temmpo · temop · temppo · tepmo · tmepo · ttempo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tejo" and "tempo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt̪exo] versus [ˈt̪ẽmpo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tejo" vs "tempo" - which ranks higher?
"tempo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,847 in our Spanish list, against #46,836 for "tejo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "tejo" and "tempo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tejo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tempo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #33,849 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tejo" and "tempo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tapo vs tejo". 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 #33,849 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list