tempesvstripesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#46,482
“tempes” frequency rank
#19,179
“tripes” frequency rank
65661
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tempes tripes
Definition Pluriel de tempe. Plat à base de morceaux du système digestif, dans une sauce.

Where the eye mixes tempes and tripes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tempes (CVCCVC) and tripes (CCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
tempes
6 ch
tripes

Visual trap between tempes and tripes

A purely visual mix-up. tempes (\tɑ̃p\) and tripes (\tʁip\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65661, 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\. tripes is at rank #19,179, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tʁip\.

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 65661, this pair ranks #71,329 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tempes vs tripes

Shared letters: epst. Private to "tempes": m. Private to "tripes": ir.

"tempes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "tripes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tempes ← etmpes · temeps · temmpes · tempess · temppes · tempse · tepmes · tmepes
  • tripes ← rtipes · tirpes · trieps · tripess · trippes · tripse · trpies · trripes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tempes" and "tripes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\tɑ̃p\ versus \tʁip\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tempes" vs "tripes" - which ranks higher?
"tripes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,179 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 "tripes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #71,329 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tempes" and "tripes" 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 #71,329 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