tendíavstenéisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“tendía” and “tenéis” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#39,484
“tendía” frequency rank
#4,204
“tenéis” frequency rank
43688
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tendía tenéis
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de tender o de tenderse. Segunda persona del plural (vosotros, vosotras) del presente de indicativo de tener.

Where the eye mixes tendía and tenéis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tendía (CVCCVV) and tenéis (CVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
tendía
6 ch
tenéis

Why the eye confuses tendía with tenéis

A purely visual mix-up. tendía ([t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪ia]) and tenéis ([t̪eˈnejs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43688, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tendía is recorded at frequency rank #39,484, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪ia]. tenéis is at rank #4,204, tagged as averb, pronounced [t̪eˈnejs].

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 43688, this pair ranks #141,260 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tendía vs tenéis

Shared letters: ent. Private to "tendía": adí. Private to "tenéis": isé.

"tendía" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "tenéis" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tendía" and "tenéis" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪ia] versus [t̪eˈnejs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tendía" vs "tenéis" - which ranks higher?
"tenéis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,204 in our Spanish list, against #39,484 for "tendía". 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 "tendía" and "tenéis" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tendía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tenéis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #141,260 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tendía" and "tenéis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tendía vs tendían". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #141,260 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list