temevstempleWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: teme is a verb, temple is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“teme” is a verb and “temple” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#8,191
“teme” frequency rank
#14,469
“temple” frequency rank
22660
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature teme temple
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de temar. Condición de la atmósfera o estado del ambiente, con referencia al grado de calor, frío, sequedad o humedad, etc.

Where the eye mixes teme and temple

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
teme
6 ch
temple

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: teme is [ˈt̪eme] while temple is [ˈt̪ẽmple]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 22660, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

teme is recorded at frequency rank #8,191, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪eme]. temple is at rank #14,469, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪ẽmple].

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 22660, this pair ranks #249,314 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of teme vs temple

Shared letters: emt. Private to "teme": -. Private to "temple": lp.

"teme" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "temple" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • temeetme · teem · temme · tmee · tteme
  • templeetmple · temlpe · temmple · tempel · templle · tempple · tepmle · tmeple

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "teme" and "temple" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "teme" is a verb and "temple" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "teme" or "temple"?
"teme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,191 in our Spanish list, against #14,469 for "temple". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "teme" and "temple". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "teme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "temple" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #249,314 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "teme" and "temple" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tale vs teme". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list