tenderingvstendingWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tendering is a noun, tending is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#43,956
“tendering” frequency rank
#19,985
“tending” frequency rank
63941
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tendering tending
Definition The offering of a tender, or bid. present participle and gerund of tend

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tendering and tending apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
tendering
7 ch
tending

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tendering is anoun and tendingaverb. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63941, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tendering is recorded at frequency rank #43,956, classified as anoun. tending is at rank #19,985, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈtɛndɪŋ/.

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 63941, this pair ranks #80,311 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tendering vs tending

Shared letters: degint. Private to "tendering": r. Private to "tending": -.

"tendering" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC  ·  "tending" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tenderingetndering · tednering · tenddering · tendeirng · tenderign · tenderingg · tenderinng · tendernig
  • tendingetnding · tedning · tendding · tendign · tendingg · tendinng · tendnig · tenidng

Frequency comparison

tendering#43,956
tending#19,985

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tendering" and "tending" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tendering" is a noun and "tending" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tendering" or "tending"?
"tending" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,985 in our English list, against #43,956 for "tendering". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tendering vs tending

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list