Which to use
“tempes” and “temps” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,482
- “tempes” frequency rank
- #89
- “temps” frequency rank
- 46571
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tempes | temps |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de tempe. | 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 tempes and temps
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: tempes vs temps
A purely visual mix-up. tempes (\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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46571, 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\. 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 46571, this pair ranks #193,859 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tempes vs temps
Shared letters: empst. Private to "tempes": -. Private to "temps": -.
"tempes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "temps" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tempes" and "temps" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "tempes" or "temps"?
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 "tempes" 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 #193,859 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tempes" and "temps" 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 #193,859 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.