temblóvstemoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#42,173
“tembló” frequency rank
#5,898
“temo” frequency rank
48071
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tembló temo
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de temblar. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de temar.

Where the eye mixes tembló and temo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tembló runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against temo's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
tembló
4 ch
temo

Why the eye confuses tembló with temo

A purely visual mix-up. tembló ([t̪ẽmˈblo]) and temo ([ˈt̪emo]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48071, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tembló is recorded at frequency rank #42,173, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪ẽmˈblo]. temo is at rank #5,898, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪emo].

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 48071, this pair ranks #116,499 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tembló vs temo

Shared letters: emt. Private to "tembló": bló. Private to "temo": o.

"tembló" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "temo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • temo ← etmo · temmo · teom · tmeo · ttemo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tembló" and "temo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([t̪ẽmˈblo] versus [ˈt̪emo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tembló" or "temo"?
"temo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,898 in our Spanish list, against #42,173 for "tembló". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tembló" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "temo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #116,499 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tembló" and "temo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tembló vs túmulo". 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 #116,499 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