tendióvstengoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,137
“tendió” frequency rank
#88
“tengo” frequency rank
31225
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tendió tengo
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de tender o de tenderse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de tener.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tendió and tengo apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
tendió
5 ch
tengo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. tendió ([t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪jo]) and tengo ([ˈt̪ẽŋgo]) 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 31225, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tendió is recorded at frequency rank #31,137, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪jo]. tengo is at rank #88, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪ẽŋgo].

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 31225, this pair ranks #208,138 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tendió vs tengo

Shared letters: ent. Private to "tendió": dió. Private to "tengo": go.

"tendió" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "tengo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tengoetngo · tegno · tenggo · tenngo · tenog · tnego · ttengo

Frequency comparison

tendió#31,137
tengo#88

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tendió" and "tengo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪jo] versus [ˈt̪ẽŋgo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "tendió" or "tengo"?
"tengo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #88 in our Spanish list, against #31,137 for "tendió". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering tendió vs tengo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tendió” 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