tesevstreConfusable pair

Quick tell: tese is a noun, tre is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tese” is a noun and “tre” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,647
“tese” frequency rank
#14,981
“tre” frequency rank
18628
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tese tre
Definition enunciado que é exposto em um debate e defendido, se refutado três

Where the eye mixes tese and tre

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

4 ch
tese
3 ch
tre

Why the eye confuses tese with tre

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tese is /ˈtɛ.zi/ while tre is /tre/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18628, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tese is recorded at frequency rank #3,647, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɛ.zi/. 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 18628, this pair ranks #52,319 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tese vs tre

Shared letters: et. Private to "tese": s. Private to "tre": r.

"tese" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "tre" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tesetees · tesse · tsee · ttese

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tese" for "tre" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tese" is a noun and "tre" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "tese" or "tre" show up more?
"tese" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,647 in our Portuguese list, against #14,981 for "tre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "tese" and "tre" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tese" 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 #52,319 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tese" and "tre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tre 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 #52,319 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