Which to use
“tempes” and “tomes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,482
- “tempes” frequency rank
- #11,493
- “tomes” frequency rank
- 57975
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tempes | tomes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de tempe. | Pluriel de tome. |
Where the eye mixes tempes and tomes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tempes runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against tomes's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tempes with tomes
A purely visual mix-up. tempes (\tɑ̃p\) and tomes (\tɔm\) 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 57975, 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\. tomes is at rank #11,493, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɔm\.
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 57975, this pair ranks #111,806 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tempes vs tomes
Shared letters: emst. Private to "tempes": p. Private to "tomes": o.
"tempes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "tomes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tempes" for "tomes" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tempes" vs "tomes" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
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 "tomes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #111,806 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tempes" and "tomes" 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 #111,806 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.