temovstesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#5,898
“temo” frequency rank
#28,970
“tes” frequency rank
34868
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature temo tes
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de temar. Forma del plural de te.

Where the eye mixes temo and tes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
temo
3 ch
tes

Why the eye confuses temo with tes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: temo is [ˈt̪emo] while tes is [ˈt̪es]. 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 34868, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

temo is recorded at frequency rank #5,898, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪emo]. tes is at rank #28,970, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪es].

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 34868, this pair ranks #189,110 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of temo vs tes

Shared letters: et. Private to "temo": mo. Private to "tes": s.

"temo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tes" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • temoetmo · temmo · teom · tmeo · ttemo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "temo" and "tes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "temo" is a verb and "tes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "temo" vs "tes" - which ranks higher?
"temo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,898 in our Spanish list, against #28,970 for "tes". 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 "temo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #189,110 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "temo" and "tes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tes vs toys". 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 #189,110 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