tensovstensosTell them apart

Which to use

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

#17,833
“tenso” frequency rank
#40,019
“tensos” frequency rank
57852
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tenso tensos
Definition En tensión. Forma del masculino plural de tenso.

Where the eye mixes tenso and tensos

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

5 ch
tenso
6 ch
tensos

Why the eye confuses tenso with tensos

A purely visual mix-up. tenso ([ˈt̪ẽnso]) and tensos ([ˈt̪ẽnsos]) 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 extra letter(s) - “tenso” sits inside “tensos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57852, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tenso is recorded at frequency rank #17,833, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪ẽnso]. 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 57852, this pair ranks #68,825 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tenso vs tensos

Shared letters: enost. Private to "tenso": -. Private to "tensos": -.

"tenso" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "tensos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tenso ← etnso · tennso · tenos · tensso · tesno · tneso · ttenso
  • tensos ← etnsos · tennsos · tenoss · tensoss · tenssos · tesnos · tnesos · ttensos

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tenso" and "tensos" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈt̪ẽnso] versus [ˈt̪ẽnsos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "tenso" vs "tensos" - which ranks higher?
"tenso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,833 in our Spanish list, against #40,019 for "tensos". 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 "tenso" and "tensos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tenso" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tensos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #68,825 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tenso" and "tensos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tensos vs termos". 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 #68,825 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