tenéisvstennisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tenéis is a verb, tennis is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tenéis” is a verb and “tennis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,204
“tenéis” frequency rank
#27,028
“tennis” frequency rank
31232
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tenéis tennis
Definition Segunda persona del plural (vosotros, vosotras) del presente de indicativo de tener. Tenis.

Where the eye mixes tenéis and tennis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. tenéis (CVCVVC) and tennis (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
tenéis
6 ch
tennis

Why the eye confuses tenéis with tennis

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tenéis is [t̪eˈnejs] while tennis is [teˈnːis]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - é in “tenéis” becomes n in “tennis”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31232, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tenéis is recorded at frequency rank #4,204, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪eˈnejs]. tennis is at rank #27,028, tagged as anoun, pronounced [teˈnːis].

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 31232, this pair ranks #208,107 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tenéis vs tennis

Shared letters: einst. Private to "tenéis": é. Private to "tennis": -.

"tenéis" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "tennis" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tennis ← etnnis · tenins · tenniss · tennsi · tnenis · ttennis

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tenéis" for "tennis" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tenéis" is a verb and "tennis" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tenéis" or "tennis"?
"tenéis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,204 in our Spanish list, against #27,028 for "tennis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "tenéis" and "tennis" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tenéis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tennis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #208,107 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tenéis" and "tennis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tennis vs tetris". 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 #208,107 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