tem

verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“tem” is in the everyday core of Portuguese, ranked #33 in Portuguese word frequency and used as a verb.

#33
frequency rank, Portuguese
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo ter

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

tem vs to
33% similar
tem vs tu
33% similar
tem vs ti
33% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for tem
PropertyValue
Headwordtem
LanguagePortuguese
Part of speechVerb
Letters3
Frequency rank#33
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “tem” sits in Portuguese frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). tem lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The Portuguese entry for tem is 3 letters long, classified as a verb. Corpus data places it at rank #33 in overall Portuguese word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for tem, a sign its spelling follows regular Portuguese conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "to", "tu", "ti", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct Portuguese form is tem, spelled T-E-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo ter
  2. 2
    segunda pessoa do singular do imperativo afirmativo do verbo ter

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "tem"?
"tem" is spelled T-E-M.
What does "tem" mean?
As a verb, "tem" means: terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo ter
What words are commonly confused with "tem"?
"tem" is commonly confused with "to", "tu", "ti". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "tem" come from?
"tem" is a Portuguese word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “tem”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct Portuguese spelling is T-E-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “to” - see the side-by-side comparison. tem vs to
  • Browse more Portuguese words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Portuguese words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list