Which to use
“tem” and “them” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,481
- “tem” frequency rank
- #19,418
- “them” frequency rank
- 65899
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tem | them |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de ter. | Dire. |
Where the eye mixes tem and them
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: tem vs them
A purely visual mix-up. tem (\tɐ̃j\) and them (\θem\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65899, 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\. them is at rank #19,418, tagged as averb, pronounced \θem\.
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 65899, this pair ranks #70,270 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tem vs them
Shared letters: emt. Private to "tem": -. Private to "them": h.
"tem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "them" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- them ← htem · tehm · themm · thhem · thme · tthem
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tem" for "them" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tem" vs "them" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "them" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #70,270 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tem" and "them" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tem vs tif". 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 #70,270 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.