Which to use
“tam” is an adverb and “te” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,345
- “tam” frequency rank
- #59
- “te” frequency rank
- 12404
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tam | te |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | lá, aí, ali, acolá | a ti |
Letter map: tam vs te
Shared letters muted; letters that set tam and te apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Role in the sentence - tam and te
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tam is anadverb and teapronoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12404, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tam is recorded at frequency rank #12,345, classified as anadv. te is at rank #59, tagged as apron, pronounced /tɨ/.
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 12404, this pair ranks #60,200 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tam vs te
Shared letters: t. Private to "tam": am. Private to "te": e.
"tam" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "te" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tam" and "te" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "tam" or "te" show up more?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "tam" and "te".
- Full dictionary entry for "tam" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "te" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #60,200 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tam" and "te" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tam vs tampo". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #60,200 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.