Which to use
“tenait” and “tendait” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,998
- “tenait” frequency rank
- #37,093
- “tendait” frequency rank
- 42091
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tenait | tendait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de tenir. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait de tendre. |
Where the eye mixes tenait and tendait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. tenait runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against tendait's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between tenait and tendait
A purely visual mix-up. tenait (\tə.nɛ\) and tendait (\tɑ̃.dɛ\) 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 42091, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tenait is recorded at frequency rank #4,998, classified as averb, pronounced \tə.nɛ\. tendait is at rank #37,093, tagged as averb, pronounced \tɑ̃.dɛ\.
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 42091, this pair ranks #228,282 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tenait vs tendait
Shared letters: aeint. Private to "tenait": -. Private to "tendait": d.
"tenait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "tendait" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tenait" and "tendait" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "tenait" vs "tendait" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tenait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tendait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #228,282 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tenait" and "tendait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tendait vs tentais". 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 #228,282 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.