temblóvstiemblaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#42,173
“tembló” frequency rank
#20,532
“tiembla” frequency rank
62705
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes tembló and tiembla

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. tembló runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against tiembla's 7 (CVVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
tembló
7 ch
tiembla

Look-alike desk: tembló vs tiembla

A purely visual mix-up. tembló ([t̪ẽmˈblo]) and tiembla ([ˈt̪jẽmbla]) 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 62705, 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]. tiembla is at rank #20,532, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪jẽmbla].

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 62705, this pair ranks #51,128 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tembló vs tiembla

Shared letters: belmt. Private to "tembló": ó. Private to "tiembla": ai.

"tembló" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "tiembla" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tiembla ← itembla · teimbla · tiebmla · tiembal · tiembbla · tiemblla · tiemlba · tiemmbla

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tembló" for "tiembla" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([t̪ẽmˈblo] versus [ˈt̪jẽmbla]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tembló" or "tiembla" show up more?
"tiembla" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,532 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

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "tembló" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tiembla" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #51,128 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tembló" and "tiembla" 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 #51,128 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