tendrávstensaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,185
“tendrá” frequency rank
#15,738
“tensa” frequency rank
16923
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tendrá tensa
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del futuro de indicativo de tener o de tenerse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de tensar.

Where the eye mixes tendrá and tensa

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tendrá runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against tensa's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
tendrá
5 ch
tensa

Visual trap between tendrá and tensa

A purely visual mix-up. tendrá ([t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪ɾa]) 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 16923, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tendrá is recorded at frequency rank #1,185, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪ɾa]. 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 16923, this pair ranks #274,234 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tendrá vs tensa

Shared letters: ent. Private to "tendrá": drá. Private to "tensa": as.

"tendrá" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "tensa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tensa ← etnsa · tenas · tennsa · tenssa · tesna · tnesa · ttensa

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tendrá" for "tensa" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪ɾa] versus [ˈt̪ẽnsa]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tendrá" vs "tensa" - which ranks higher?
"tendrá" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,185 in our Spanish list, against #15,738 for "tensa". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tendrá" 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 #274,234 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tendrá" and "tensa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "teñida vs tensa". 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 #274,234 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