Which to use
“temp” and “tempe” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,891
- “temp” frequency rank
- #23,706
- “tempe” frequency rank
- 50597
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | temp | tempe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Intérimaire (suppléant, employé embauché pour une courte durée). | Partie latérale de la tête entre l’oreille et le front. |
Where the eye mixes temp and tempe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. temp runs 4 letters (CVCC) against tempe's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses temp with tempe
A purely visual mix-up. temp (\tɛmp\) and tempe (\tɑ̃p\) 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) - “temp” sits inside “tempe”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50597, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
temp is recorded at frequency rank #26,891, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɛmp\. tempe is at rank #23,706, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɑ̃p\.
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 50597, this pair ranks #161,415 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of temp vs tempe
Shared letters: empt. Private to "temp": -. Private to "tempe": -.
"temp" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "tempe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "temp" for "tempe" ever safe?
Which is more common, "temp" or "tempe"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "temp" and "tempe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "temp" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tempe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #161,415 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "temp" and "tempe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "temp vs tma". 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 #161,415 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.