tempo vs tengo, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“tempo” is a noun and “tengo” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#84
“tempo” frequency rank: #46,588
“tengo” frequency rank: 46672
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	tempo	tengo
Definition	continuum linear não-espacial no qual os eventos se sucedem irreversivelmente	primeira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo tener

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tempo and tengo apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

tempo

5 ch

tengo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tempo is anoun and tengoaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46672, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tempo is recorded at frequency rank #84, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtẽm.pʊ/. tengo is at rank #46,588, tagged as averb.

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 46672, this pair ranks #18,640 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tempo vs tengo

Shared letters: eot. Private to "tempo": mp. Private to "tengo": gn.

"tempo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tengo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

tempo ← etmpo · temmpo · temop · temppo · tepmo · tmepo · ttempo
tengo ← etngo · tegno · tenggo · tenngo · tenog · tnego · ttengo

Frequency comparison

tempo#84

tengo#46,588

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tempo" and "tengo" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "tempo" or "tengo"?

"tempo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #84 in our Portuguese list, against #46,588 for "tengo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering tempo vs tengo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “tempo”; for a verb, it's “tengo”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tempo” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable