telavsteseConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,952
“tela” frequency rank
#3,647
“tese” frequency rank
5599
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tela tese
Definition tecido de lã, linho, seda, etc. enunciado que é exposto em um debate e defendido, se refutado

Where the eye mixes tela and tese

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

4 ch
tela
4 ch
tese

Visual trap between tela and tese

A purely visual mix-up. tela (/ˈtɛ.lɐ/) and tese (/ˈtɛ.zi/) 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 5599, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tela is recorded at frequency rank #1,952, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɛ.lɐ/. tese is at rank #3,647, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɛ.zi/.

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 5599, this pair ranks #68,979 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tela vs tese

Shared letters: et. Private to "tela": al. Private to "tese": s.

"tela" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tese" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • telaetla · teal · tella · tlea · ttela
  • tesetees · tesse · tsee · ttese

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tela" for "tese" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈtɛ.lɐ/ versus /ˈtɛ.zi/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tela" vs "tese" - which ranks higher?
"tela" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,952 in our Portuguese list, against #3,647 for "tese". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "tela" and "tese" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tela" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tese" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #68,979 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tela" and "tese" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tese vs tosa". 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 #68,979 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