quem

\kɐ̃j\

/\kɐ̃j\/ pron

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“quem” is uncommon French (frequency #85,181 among 352 “Q” headwords), classed as a pronoun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#85,181
frequency rank, French
352
“Q” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Qui.

Corpus desk

Index FR-quem · quem · French

quem · rank #85,181 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #85,181
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 352
  • PHOTO-FINISH quaternaires

Nearest frequency peer: quaternaires (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangs de longue queue près de « quem »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « quem » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for quem
PropertyValue
Headwordquem
LanguageFrench
Part of speechPronoun
IPA\kɐ̃j\
Letters4
Frequency rank#85,181
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « quem » en français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.quemtombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Voisins rares de la même bande: « quaternaires » (#85,180), « questo » (#85,182), « pâtre » (#85,178). Parmi 352 lemmes en « Q », « quem » est au #85,181. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

quem is uncommon French at frequency #85,181 among 352 “Q” headwords, classed as apronoun, transcribed \kɐ̃j\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Qui.".

quem has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is quem, spelled Q-U-E-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    Qui.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "quem"?
"quem" is spelled Q-U-E-M. The IPA pronunciation is \kɐ̃j\.
What does "quem" mean?
As a pronoun, "quem" means: Qui.
How do you pronounce "quem"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "quem" is \kɐ̃j\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "quem" come from?
"quem" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "quem", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

puno#85,174PPDA#85,152pils#85,133pele#85,118

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list