Which to use
“tengan” and “tengo” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,227
- “tengan” frequency rank
- #88
- “tengo” frequency rank
- 1315
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tengan | tengo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de tener o de tenerse. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de tener. |
Where the eye mixes tengan and tengo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tengan runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against tengo's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tengan with tengo
A purely visual mix-up. tengan ([ˈt̪ẽŋgãn]) 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 1315, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tengan is recorded at frequency rank #1,227, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪ẽŋgãn]. 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 1315, this pair ranks #322,254 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tengan vs tengo
Shared letters: egnt. Private to "tengan": a. Private to "tengo": o.
"tengan" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "tengo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tengan" and "tengo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "tengan" or "tengo"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "tengan" and "tengo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tengan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tengo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #322,254 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tengan" and "tengo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tendían vs tengan". 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 #322,254 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.