Which to use
“tell” and “tem” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,770
- “tell” frequency rank
- #33
- “tem” frequency rank
- 9803
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tell | tem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | contar, narrar | terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo ter |
Letter map: tell vs tem
Shared letters muted; letters that set tell and tem apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Pair insight - tell / tem
tell and tem are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9803, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tell is recorded at frequency rank #9,770, classified as averb. tem is at rank #33, tagged as averb.
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 9803, this pair ranks #63,511 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tell vs tem
Shared letters: et. Private to "tell": l. Private to "tem": m.
"tell" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "tem" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- tell ← etll · tel · tlel · ttell
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tell" for "tem" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "tell" or "tem" show up more?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "tell" and "tem".
- Full dictionary entry for "tell" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #63,511 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tell" and "tem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tell vs til". 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 #63,511 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.