Which to use
“tem” is a verb and “tom” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33
- “tem” frequency rank
- #1,262
- “tom” frequency rank
- 1295
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tem | tom |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo ter | qualquer som, no que se refere à sua amplitude, fonte, potência, etc.: |
Letter map: tem vs tom
Shared letters muted; letters that set tem and tom apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Part-of-speech tell for tem / tom
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tem is averb and tomanoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - e in “tem” becomes o in “tom”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tem is recorded at frequency rank #33, classified as averb. tom is at rank #1,262, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtõ/.
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 1295, this pair ranks #74,285 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tem vs tom
Shared letters: mt. Private to "tem": e. Private to "tom": o.
"tem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "tom" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tem" for "tom" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "tem" or "tom" show up more?
What to do next
You've compared "tem" and "tom". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "tem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tom" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,285 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tem" and "tom" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tom vs tosa". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #74,285 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.