tempo vs tombo, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#84
“tempo” frequency rank: #19,867
“tombo” frequency rank: 19951
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	tempo	tombo
Definition	continuum linear não-espacial no qual os eventos se sucedem irreversivelmente	ato ou efeito de tombar; queda

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

tempo

5 ch

tombo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. tempo (/ˈtẽm.pʊ/) and tombo (/ˈtõ.bu/) 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 19951, 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/. tombo is at rank #19,867, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈtõ.bu/.

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 19951, this pair ranks #50,658 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tempo vs tombo

Shared letters: mot. Private to "tempo": ep. Private to "tombo": b.

"tempo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tombo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

tempo ← etmpo · temmpo · temop · temppo · tepmo · tmepo · ttempo
tombo ← otmbo · tmobo · tobmo · tombbo · tommbo · tomob · ttombo

Frequency comparison

tempo#84

tombo#19,867

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

No. They are said differently (/ˈtẽm.pʊ/ versus /ˈtõ.bu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

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

"tempo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #84 in our Portuguese list, against #19,867 for "tombo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering tempo vs tombo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tempo” entry
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