tempesvstemplesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“tempes” and “temples” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#46,482
“tempes” frequency rank
#10,597
“temples” frequency rank
57079
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tempes temples
Definition Pluriel de tempe. Pluriel de temple.

Where the eye mixes tempes and temples

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
tempes
7 ch
temples

Why the eye confuses tempes with temples

A purely visual mix-up. tempes (\tɑ̃p\) and temples (\tɑ̃pl\) 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 57079, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tempes is recorded at frequency rank #46,482, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɑ̃p\. temples is at rank #10,597, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɑ̃pl\.

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 57079, this pair ranks #117,163 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tempes vs temples

Shared letters: empst. Private to "tempes": -. Private to "temples": l.

"tempes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "temples" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tempesetmpes · temeps · temmpes · tempess · temppes · tempse · tepmes · tmepes
  • templesetmples · temlpes · temmples · tempels · templess · templles · templse · tempples

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tempes" and "temples" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\tɑ̃p\ versus \tɑ̃pl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tempes" vs "temples" - which ranks higher?
"temples" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,597 in our French list, against #46,482 for "tempes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tempes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "temples" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #117,163 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tempes" and "temples" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tempes vs trempés". 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 #117,163 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