tends

/tɛndz/

//tɛndz// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"tends" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tends” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,922. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,922
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - third-person singular simple present indicative of tend

Corpus desk

Index EN-tends · tends · English

tends · rank #5,922 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,922
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH strongest

Nearest frequency peer: strongest (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “tends”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “tends” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

tends vs tons
60% similar
tends vs tent
60% similar
tends vs tens
80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for tends
PropertyValue
Headwordtends
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/tɛndz/
Letters5
Frequency rank#5,922
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “tends”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).tendslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “strongest” (#5,921), “tribe” (#5,923), “streams” (#5,920). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tends” is #5,922. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around tends (IPA /tɛndz/), averb. Corpus frequency is #5,922 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Dominant gloss: "third-person singular simple present indicative of tend".

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for tends, with forms such as "etnds", "tedns", and "tendds". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "tons", "tent", "tens", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is tends, spelled T-E-N-D-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    third-person singular simple present indicative of tend

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • etnds
  • tedns
  • tendds
  • tendss
  • tennds
  • tensd
  • tneds
  • ttends

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tends - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

etnds2tedns2tendds1tendss1tennds1tensd2tneds2ttends1
Edit distance from "tends"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "tends"?
"tends" is spelled T-E-N-D-S. The IPA pronunciation is /tɛndz/.
What does "tends" mean?
As a verb, "tends" means: third-person singular simple present indicative of tend
What words are commonly confused with "tends"?
"tends" is commonly confused with "tons", "tent", "tens". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tends"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tends" is /tɛndz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "tends" come from?
"tends" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tends", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

tribe#5,923ridge#5,914canon#5,940cared#5,942

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

sealed8 variantsarrives8 variantslinear8 variantscooked8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list