temevstomoConfusable pair

Which to use

“teme” and “tomo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,093
“teme” frequency rank
#6,352
“tomo” frequency rank
16445
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature teme tomo
Definition anta; tapir, Tapirus terrestris volume de obra impressa ou manuscrita

Where the eye mixes teme and tomo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
teme
4 ch
tomo

Visual trap between teme and tomo

A purely visual mix-up. teme (/ˈtɛ.mɛ/) and tomo (/ˈto.mu/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16445, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

teme is recorded at frequency rank #10,093, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɛ.mɛ/. tomo is at rank #6,352, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈto.mu/.

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 16445, this pair ranks #55,084 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of teme vs tomo

Shared letters: mt. Private to "teme": e. Private to "tomo": o.

"teme" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tomo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • temeetme · temme · tmee · tteme
  • tomootmo · tmoo · tommo · toom · ttomo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "teme" and "tomo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈtɛ.mɛ/ versus /ˈto.mu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "teme" or "tomo"?
"tomo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,352 in our Portuguese list, against #10,093 for "teme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "teme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tomo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #55,084 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "teme" and "tomo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "teme vs trema". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #55,084 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list