Which to use
“ter” is a verb and “tre” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #60
- “ter” frequency rank
- #14,981
- “tre” frequency rank
- 15041
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ter | tre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | acompanhado de verbo no particípio regular, indica ação passada | três |
Where the eye mixes ter and tre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ter vs tre
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ter is /ˈteɹ/ while tre is /tre/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (er ↔ re) - a transposition the eye reads straight past, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15041, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ter is recorded at frequency rank #60, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈteɹ/. tre is at rank #14,981, tagged as anum, pronounced /tre/.
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 15041, this pair ranks #56,898 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ter vs tre
Shared letters: ert. Private to "ter": -. Private to "tre": -.
"ter" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "tre" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ter" for "tre" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ter" or "tre"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #56,898 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ter" and "tre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tre vs trema". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #56,898 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.