tense

/tɛns/

//tɛns// noun

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

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

The verdict

“tense” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,752. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#7,752
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The property of indicating the point in time at which an action or state of being occurs or exists.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tense · tense · English

tense · rank #7,752 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #7,752
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH terrifying

Nearest frequency peer: terrifying (+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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “tense”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “tense” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

tense vs tse
60% similar
tense vs test
60% similar
tense vs tone
60% similar

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

Key facts for tense
PropertyValue
Headwordtense
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/tɛns/
Letters5
Frequency rank#7,752
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “tense” sits in English frequency

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).tenselands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “terrifying” (#7,753), “synthetic” (#7,750), “Toyota” (#7,754). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around tense (IPA /tɛns/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #7,752 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for tense, with forms such as "etnse", "tennse", and "tensse". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "tse", "test", "tone", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English tens, from Old French tens (modern French temps), from Latin tempus. Doublet of tempo and tempus. The correct English form is tense, spelled T-E-N-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The property of indicating the point in time at which an action or state of being occurs or exists.
  2. 2
    An inflected form of a verb that indicates tense.
  3. 3
    A grammatical aspect.
  4. 4
    A verb form or construction indicating a combination of tense, aspect, and mood.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how tense appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Dyirbal verbs are not inflected for tense.
  2. English only has a past tense and a non-past tense; it has no future tense.

Etymology

From Middle English tens, from Old French tens (modern French temps), from Latin tempus. Doublet of tempo and tempus.

This word in other languages

tiempo(Español)temps(Français)Zeit(Deutsch)tempo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • etnse
  • tennse
  • tensse
  • tesne
  • tnese
  • ttense

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tense - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

etnse2tennse1tensse1tesne2tnese2ttense1
Edit distance from "tense"

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 "tense"?
"tense" is spelled T-E-N-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /tɛns/.
What does "tense" mean?
As a noun, "tense" means: The property of indicating the point in time at which an action or state of being occurs or exists.
What words are commonly confused with "tense"?
"tense" is commonly confused with "tse", "test", "tone". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tense"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tense" is /tɛns/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "tense"?
From Middle English tens, from Old French tens (modern French temps), from Latin tempus. Doublet of tempo and tempus. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 "tense", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

vegan#7,759Shane#7,741Annie#7,769chess#7,776

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

stat6 variantssigh6 variantswang6 variantsPierre6 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "tense". Here's where to go from here.

  • "tense" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "tse". View pair
  • 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #7,752 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "T" letter cohort. T–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list