temanvstemíanWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,416
“teman” frequency rank
#26,639
“temían” frequency rank
65055
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature teman temían
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de temar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de temer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set teman and temían apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
teman
6 ch
temían

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. teman ([ˈt̪emãn]) and temían ([t̪eˈmiãn]) 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 65055, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

teman is recorded at frequency rank #38,416, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪emãn]. temían is at rank #26,639, tagged as averb, pronounced [t̪eˈmiãn].

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 65055, this pair ranks #43,762 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of teman vs temían

Shared letters: aemnt. Private to "teman": -. Private to "temían": í.

"teman" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "temían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • temanetman · teamn · temann · temman · temna · tmean · tteman

Frequency comparison

teman#38,416
temían#26,639

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "teman" and "temían" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt̪emãn] versus [t̪eˈmiãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "teman" or "temían"?
"temían" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,639 in our Spanish list, against #38,416 for "teman". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering teman vs temían

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “teman” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list