Which to use
“tem” and “temps” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,838
- “tem” frequency rank
- #38,991
- “temps” frequency rank
- 85829
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tem | temps |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Escalón. | Tiempo |
Where the eye mixes tem and temps
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tem with temps
A purely visual mix-up. tem (/tem/) and temps ([ˈtems]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “tem” sits inside “temps”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85829, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tem is recorded at frequency rank #46,838, classified as anoun, pronounced /tem/. temps is at rank #38,991, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtems].
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 85829, this pair ranks #5,792 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tem vs temps
Shared letters: emt. Private to "tem": -. Private to "temps": ps.
"tem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "temps" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- temps ← etmps · temmps · tempps · tempss · temsp · tepms · tmeps · ttemps
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tem" for "temps" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tem" vs "temps" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "tem" and "temps" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "temps" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #5,792 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tem" and "temps" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tem vs tomb". 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 #5,792 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.