Which to use
“tempe” and “temps” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,706
- “tempe” frequency rank
- #89
- “temps” frequency rank
- 23795
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tempe | temps |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie latérale de la tête entre l’oreille et le front. | Durée des choses, marquée par certaines périodes, et principalement par la révolution apparente du soleil ; écart entre le déroulement de deux événements. |
Where the eye mixes tempe and temps
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between tempe and temps
A purely visual mix-up. tempe (\tɑ̃p\) and temps (\tɑ̃\) 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 a single letter - e in “tempe” becomes s in “temps”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23795, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tempe is recorded at frequency rank #23,706, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɑ̃p\. temps is at rank #89, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɑ̃\.
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 23795, this pair ranks #350,416 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tempe vs temps
Shared letters: empt. Private to "tempe": -. Private to "temps": s.
"tempe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "temps" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tempe" and "temps" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "tempe" vs "temps" - which ranks higher?
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 "tempe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "temps" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #350,416 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tempe" and "temps" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tempe vs ténue". 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 #350,416 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.