tempéréevstempérerConfusable pair

Quick tell: tempérée is a adjective, tempérer is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tempérée” is an adjective and “tempérer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,614
“tempérée” frequency rank
#38,066
“tempérer” frequency rank
74680
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tempérée tempérer
Definition Féminin singulier de tempéré. Modérer ou réguler de quelque manière que ce soit.

Same sound, different letters: tempérée vs tempérer

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. tempérée (CVCCVCVV) and tempérer (CVCCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
tempérée
8 ch
tempérer

Ear matches; page differs - tempérée and tempérer

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: tempérée and tempérer carry the same recorded pronunciation, \tɑ̃.pe.ʁe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74680, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tempérée is recorded at frequency rank #36,614, classified as anadj, pronounced \tɑ̃.pe.ʁe\. tempérer is at rank #38,066, tagged as averb, pronounced \tɑ̃.pe.ʁe\.

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 74680, this pair ranks #36,362 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tempérée vs tempérer

Shared letters: emprté. Private to "tempérée": -. Private to "tempérer": -.

"tempérée" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV  ·  "tempérer" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tempérée" for "tempérer" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tempérée" is an adjective and "tempérer" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "tempérée" vs "tempérer" - which ranks higher?
"tempérée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,614 in our French list, against #38,066 for "tempérer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've separated the homophone pair "tempérée" / "tempérer". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tempérée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tempérer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #36,362 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tempérée" and "tempérer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tempérées vs tempérer". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #36,362 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list