Which to use
“tem” is a verb and “tes” is a determiner - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,481
- “tem” frequency rank
- #297
- “tes” frequency rank
- 46778
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tem | tes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de ter. | Pluriel de ton, ta. |
Where the eye mixes tem and tes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: tem vs tes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tem is \tɐ̃j\ while tes is \tɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - m in “tem” becomes s in “tes”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs determiner), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46778, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tem is recorded at frequency rank #46,481, classified as averb, pronounced \tɐ̃j\. tes is at rank #297, tagged as adet, pronounced \tɛ\.
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 46778, this pair ranks #192,157 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tem vs tes
Shared letters: et. Private to "tem": m. Private to "tes": s.
"tem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "tes" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tem" and "tes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "tem" or "tes" show up more?
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 "tem" 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 #192,157 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tem" and "tes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tem vs tif". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #192,157 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.