Which to use
“temps” and “terms” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #89
- “temps” frequency rank
- #47,644
- “terms” frequency rank
- 47733
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | temps | terms |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Durée des choses, marquée par certaines périodes, et principalement par la révolution apparente du soleil ; écart entre le déroulement de deux événements. | Pluriel de term. |
Where the eye mixes temps and terms
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses temps with terms
A purely visual mix-up. temps (\tɑ̃\) and terms ([tɝmz]) 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 47733, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
temps is recorded at frequency rank #89, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɑ̃\. terms is at rank #47,644, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tɝmz].
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 47733, this pair ranks #184,566 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of temps vs terms
Shared letters: emst. Private to "temps": p. Private to "terms": r.
"temps" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "terms" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "temps" for "terms" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "temps" or "terms" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "temps" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "terms" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #184,566 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "temps" and "terms" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "terms vs thermos". 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 #184,566 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.