Which to use
“tiempo” and “tiempos” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #75
- “tiempo” frequency rank
- #928
- “tiempos” frequency rank
- 1003
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tiempo | tiempos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Magnitud física básica que permite medir la duración de eventos o de procesos de cambio. Su unidad en el Sistema Internacional de Unidades es el segundo. El tiempo permite ordenar la sucesión de estados de cualquier proceso en un eje con un sentido no reversible del pasado al futuro. | Forma del plural de tiempo. |
Where the eye mixes tiempo and tiempos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: tiempo vs tiempos
A purely visual mix-up. tiempo ([ˈt̪jẽmpo]) and tiempos ([ˈt̪jẽmpos]) 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 extra letter(s) - “tiempo” sits inside “tiempos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1003, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tiempo is recorded at frequency rank #75, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪jẽmpo]. tiempos is at rank #928, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈt̪jẽmpos].
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 1003, this pair ranks #322,696 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tiempo vs tiempos
Shared letters: eimopt. Private to "tiempo": -. Private to "tiempos": s.
"tiempo" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "tiempos" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tiempo" and "tiempos" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tiempo" or "tiempos" show up more?
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 "tiempo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tiempos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #322,696 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tiempo" and "tiempos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tiempo vs tiento". 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 #322,696 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.