tapevstemeTell them apart

Which to use

“tape” and “teme” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,801
“tape” frequency rank
#10,093
“teme” frequency rank
34894
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tape teme
Definition toque suave anta; tapir, Tapirus terrestris

Where the eye mixes tape and teme

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
tape
4 ch
teme

Look-alike desk: tape vs teme

A purely visual mix-up. tape (/tap/) and teme (/ˈtɛ.mɛ/) 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 34894, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tape is recorded at frequency rank #24,801, classified as anoun, pronounced /tap/. teme is at rank #10,093, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɛ.mɛ/.

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 34894, this pair ranks #32,249 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tape vs teme

Shared letters: et. Private to "tape": ap. Private to "teme": m.

"tape" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "teme" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tapeatpe · taep · tappe · tpae · ttape
  • temeetme · temme · tmee · tteme

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tape" and "teme" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/tap/ versus /ˈtɛ.mɛ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tape" vs "teme" - which ranks higher?
"teme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,093 in our Portuguese list, against #24,801 for "tape". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tape" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "teme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #32,249 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tape" and "teme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tampo vs tape". 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 #32,249 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list