Which to use
“tem” is a verb and “tu” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33
- “tem” frequency rank
- #243
- “tu” frequency rank
- 276
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tem | tu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | terceira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo ter | expressa sonoridade produzido por telefone indicativo de que o aparelho telefonado foi posto no gancho ou que a linha caiu |
Letter map: tem vs tu
Shared letters muted; letters that set tem and tu apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Part-of-speech tell for tem / tu
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tem is averb and tuanintj. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tem is recorded at frequency rank #33, classified as averb. tu is at rank #243, tagged as anintj, pronounced /ˈtu/.
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 276, this pair ranks #75,359 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tem vs tu
Shared letters: t. Private to "tem": em. Private to "tu": u.
"tem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "tu" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tem" and "tu" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "tem" or "tu" show up more?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "tem" and "tu".
- Full dictionary entry for "tem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,359 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tem" and "tu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tu vs tufo". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #75,359 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.