tenésvsTexasWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tenés is a verb, Texas is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tenés” is a verb and “Texas” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,568
“tenés” frequency rank
#4,956
“Texas” frequency rank
10524
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tenés Texas
Definition Segunda persona del singular (vos) del presente de indicativo de tener o de tenerse. Uno de los estados que conforman los Estados Unidos de América, ubicado en el sur del país. Limita con México y con los estados de Luisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma y Nuevo México.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
tenés
5 ch
Texas

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tenés is [t̪eˈnes] while Texas is [ˈt̪exas]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10524, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tenés is recorded at frequency rank #5,568, classified as averb, pronounced [t̪eˈnes]. Texas is at rank #4,956, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈt̪exas].

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 10524, this pair ranks #298,289 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tenés vs Texas

Shared letters: est. Private to "tenés": . Private to "Texas": ax.

"tenés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Texas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Texasetxas · teaxs · texass · texsa · texxas · ttexas · txeas

Frequency comparison

tenés#5,568
Texas#4,956

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tenés" and "Texas" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tenés" is a verb and "Texas" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tenés" or "Texas"?
"Texas" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,956 in our Spanish list, against #5,568 for "tenés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tenés vs Texas

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “tenés”; for a name, it's “Texas”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tenés” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list