Which to use
“tem” is a verb and “tra” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33
- “tem” frequency rank
- #27,694
- “tra” frequency rank
- 27727
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tem | tra |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo ter | coisa |
Letter map: tem vs tra
Shared letters muted; letters that set tem and tra apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Part-of-speech tell for tem / tra
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tem is averb and traanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27727, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tem is recorded at frequency rank #33, classified as averb. tra is at rank #27,694, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tʀa/.
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 27727, this pair ranks #41,219 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tem vs tra
Shared letters: t. Private to "tem": em. Private to "tra": ar.
"tem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "tra" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tem" for "tra" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "tem" or "tra" show up more?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "tem" and "tra".
- Full dictionary entry for "tem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #41,219 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tem" and "tra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tra vs trema". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #41,219 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.