tem vs ti, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#33
“tem” frequency rank: #779
“ti” frequency rank: 812
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	tem	ti
Definition	terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo ter	que diz respeito à tua pessoa

Letter map: tem vs ti

Shared letters muted; letters that set tem and ti apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch

tem

2 ch

Grammar separator: tem vs ti

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tem is averb and tiapronoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 812, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tem is recorded at frequency rank #33, classified as averb. ti is at rank #779, tagged as apron, pronounced /ˈti/.

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 812, this pair ranks #74,831 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tem vs ti

Shared letters: t. Private to "tem": em. Private to "ti": i.

"tem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "ti" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tem" and "ti" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tem" is a verb and "ti" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Frequency check: "tem" vs "ti" - which ranks higher?

"tem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33 in our Portuguese list, against #779 for "ti". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pair "tem" vs "ti" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

Full dictionary entry for "tem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "ti" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #74,831 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"tem" and "ti" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tem vs trema". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #74,831 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.