temevstomenTell them apart

Which to use

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

#8,191
“teme” frequency rank
#4,842
“tomen” frequency rank
13033
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature teme tomen
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de temar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de tomar o de tomarse.

Where the eye mixes teme and tomen

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

4 ch
teme
5 ch
tomen

Visual trap between teme and tomen

A purely visual mix-up. teme ([ˈt̪eme]) and tomen ([ˈt̪omẽn]) 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 13033, 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]. tomen is at rank #4,842, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪omẽn].

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 13033, this pair ranks #289,390 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of teme vs tomen

Shared letters: emt. Private to "teme": -. Private to "tomen": no.

"teme" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tomen" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • temeetme · teem · temme · tmee · tteme
  • tomenotmen · tmoen · toemn · tomenn · tommen · tomne · ttomen

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "teme" and "tomen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt̪eme] versus [ˈt̪omẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "teme" or "tomen"?
"tomen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,842 in our Spanish list, against #8,191 for "teme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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 "tomen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #289,390 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "teme" and "tomen" 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

Confusion rank #289,390 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