Which to use
“tembló” is a verb and “tempo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,173
- “tembló” frequency rank
- #21,847
- “tempo” frequency rank
- 64020
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tembló | tempo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de temblar. | Tiempo. |
Where the eye mixes tembló and tempo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tembló runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against tempo's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between tembló and tempo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tembló is [t̪ẽmˈblo] while tempo is [ˈt̪ẽmpo]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64020, 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]. 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 64020, this pair ranks #46,865 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tembló vs tempo
Shared letters: emt. Private to "tembló": bló. Private to "tempo": op.
"tembló" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "tempo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- tempo ← etmpo · temmpo · temop · temppo · tepmo · tmepo · ttempo
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tembló" and "tempo" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "tembló" or "tempo"?
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 "tempo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #46,865 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tembló" and "tempo" 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 #46,865 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.