temvstempoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tem is a verb, tempo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tem” is a verb and “tempo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33
“tem” frequency rank
#84
“tempo” frequency rank
117
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tem tempo
Definition terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo ter continuum linear não-espacial no qual os eventos se sucedem irreversivelmente

Letter map: tem vs tempo

Shared letters muted; letters that set tem and tempo apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

3 ch
tem
5 ch
tempo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tem is averb and tempoanoun. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “tem” sits inside “tempo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 117, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tem is recorded at frequency rank #33, classified as averb. tempo is at rank #84, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtẽm.pʊ/.

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 117, this pair ranks #75,546 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tem vs tempo

Shared letters: emt. Private to "tem": -. Private to "tempo": op.

"tem" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "tempo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tempoetmpo · temmpo · temop · temppo · tepmo · tmepo · ttempo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tem" and "tempo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tem" is a verb and "tempo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tem" or "tempo"?
"tem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33 in our Portuguese list, against #84 for "tempo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list