Which to use
“tendió” is a verb and “teñido” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,137
- “tendió” frequency rank
- #27,799
- “teñido” frequency rank
- 58936
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tendió | teñido |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de tender o de tenderse. | Acción o efecto de teñir. |
Where the eye mixes tendió and teñido
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tendió (CVCCVV) and teñido (CVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses tendió with teñido
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tendió is [t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪jo] while teñido is [t̪eˈɲið̞o]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58936, 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]. teñido is at rank #27,799, tagged as anoun, pronounced [t̪eˈɲið̞o].
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 58936, this pair ranks #64,537 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tendió vs teñido
Shared letters: deit. Private to "tendió": nó. Private to "teñido": oñ.
"tendió" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "teñido" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tendió" for "teñido" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tendió" or "teñido" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tendió" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "teñido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #64,537 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tendió" and "teñido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tendían vs tendió". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #64,537 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.