Which to use
“temían” and “tengan” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,639
- “temían” frequency rank
- #1,227
- “tengan” frequency rank
- 27866
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | temían | tengan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de temer. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de tener o de tenerse. |
Where the eye mixes temían and tengan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. temían (CVCVVC) and tengan (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between temían and tengan
A purely visual mix-up. temían ([t̪eˈmiãn]) and tengan ([ˈt̪ẽŋgãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27866, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
temían is recorded at frequency rank #26,639, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪eˈmiãn]. tengan is at rank #1,227, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪ẽŋgãn].
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 27866, this pair ranks #224,777 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of temían vs tengan
Shared letters: aent. Private to "temían": mí. Private to "tengan": g.
"temían" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "tengan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- tengan ← etngan · tegnan · tenagn · tengann · tenggan · tengna · tenngan · tnegan
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "temían" and "tengan" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "temían" vs "tengan" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "temían" and "tengan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "temían" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tengan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #224,777 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "temían" and "tengan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "temían vs tendían". 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 #224,777 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.