Which to use
“tienes” is a verb and “tiernos” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #272
- “tienes” frequency rank
- #21,511
- “tiernos” frequency rank
- 21783
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tienes | tiernos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de tener o de tenerse. | Forma del plural de tierno. |
Where the eye mixes tienes and tiernos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. tienes runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against tiernos's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: tienes vs tiernos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tienes is [ˈt̪jenes] while tiernos is [ˈt̪jeɾnos]. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tienes is recorded at frequency rank #272, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈt̪jenes]. tiernos is at rank #21,511, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈt̪jeɾnos].
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 21783, this pair ranks #253,361 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tienes vs tiernos
Shared letters: einst. Private to "tienes": -. Private to "tiernos": or.
"tienes" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "tiernos" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tienes" for "tiernos" ever safe?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "tienes" or "tiernos" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "tienes" and "tiernos" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tienes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tiernos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #253,361 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tienes" and "tiernos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "termos vs tiernos". 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 #253,361 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.