Which to use
“tiens” is an intj and “times” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,126
- “tiens” frequency rank
- #5,617
- “times” frequency rank
- 6743
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tiens | times |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Marque l’étonnement, la surprise | Pluriel de time. |
Where the eye mixes tiens and times
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: tiens vs times
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tiens is \tjɛ̃\ while times is \ˈtaɪmz\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6743, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tiens is recorded at frequency rank #1,126, classified as anintj, pronounced \tjɛ̃\. times is at rank #5,617, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈtaɪmz\.
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 6743, this pair ranks #425,368 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tiens vs times
Shared letters: eist. Private to "tiens": n. Private to "times": m.
"tiens" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "times" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tiens" and "times" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "tiens" or "times" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "tiens" and "times" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tiens" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "times" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #425,368 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tiens" and "times" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "takes vs times". 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 #425,368 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.