tensión vs tensos, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“tensión” is a noun and “tensos” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,155
“tensión” frequency rank: #40,019
“tensos” frequency rank: 43174
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	tensión	tensos
Definition	Aspecto de un cuerpo expuesto a la acción de fuerzas que lo extienden o estiran.	Forma del masculino plural de tenso.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tensión and tensos apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

tensión

6 ch

tensos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tensión is [t̪ẽnˈsjõn] while tensos is [ˈt̪ẽnsos]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43174, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tensión is recorded at frequency rank #3,155, classified as anoun, pronounced [t̪ẽnˈsjõn]. tensos is at rank #40,019, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪ẽnsos].

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 43174, this pair ranks #144,133 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tensión vs tensos

Shared letters: enst. Private to "tensión": ió. Private to "tensos": o.

"tensión" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "tensos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

tensos ← etnsos · tennsos · tenoss · tensoss · tenssos · tesnos · tnesos · ttensos

Frequency comparison

tensión#3,155

tensos#40,019

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tensión" and "tensos" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tensión" is a noun and "tensos" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "tensión" or "tensos"?

"tensión" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,155 in our Spanish list, against #40,019 for "tensos". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering tensión vs tensos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “tensión”; for an adjective, it's “tensos”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tensión” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable