Which to use
“tendía” and “tensa” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,484
- “tendía” frequency rank
- #15,738
- “tensa” frequency rank
- 55222
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tendía | tensa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de tender o de tenderse. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de tensar. |
Where the eye mixes tendía and tensa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tendía runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against tensa's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: tendía vs tensa
A purely visual mix-up. tendía ([t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪ia]) and tensa ([ˈt̪ẽnsa]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55222, 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]. tensa is at rank #15,738, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪ẽnsa].
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 55222, this pair ranks #79,858 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tendía vs tensa
Shared letters: aent. Private to "tendía": dí. Private to "tensa": s.
"tendía" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "tensa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- tensa ← etnsa · tenas · tennsa · tenssa · tesna · tnesa · ttensa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tendía" for "tensa" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tendía" or "tensa"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tendía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tensa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #79,858 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tendía" and "tensa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tendía vs tendían". 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 #79,858 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.