temevstempsWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#8,191
“teme” frequency rank
#38,991
“temps” frequency rank
47182
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature teme temps
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de temar. Tiempo

Where the eye mixes teme and temps

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
teme
5 ch
temps

Look-alike desk: teme vs temps

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: teme is [ˈt̪eme] while temps is [ˈtems]. 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 47182, 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]. temps is at rank #38,991, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈtems].

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 47182, this pair ranks #121,488 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of teme vs temps

Shared letters: emt. Private to "teme": -. Private to "temps": ps.

"teme" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "temps" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • temeetme · teem · temme · tmee · tteme
  • tempsetmps · temmps · tempps · tempss · temsp · tepms · tmeps · ttemps

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "teme" and "temps" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "teme" is a verb and "temps" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "teme" vs "temps" - which ranks higher?
"teme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,191 in our Spanish list, against #38,991 for "temps". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "teme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "temps" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #121,488 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "teme" and "temps" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tamos vs temps". 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 #121,488 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