Which to use
“tend” is a verb and “tender” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,709
- “tend” frequency rank
- #49,393
- “tender” frequency rank
- 55102
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tend | tender |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de tendre. | Bateau annexe d'un paquebot, d'un yacht, destiné à transporter des bagages, du combustible ou de munitions, transborder des passagers, etc. |
Where the eye mixes tend and tender
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tend runs 4 letters (CVCC) against tender's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tend with tender
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tend is \tɑ̃\ while tender is \tɑ̃.dɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “tend” sits inside “tender”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55102, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tend is recorded at frequency rank #5,709, classified as averb, pronounced \tɑ̃\. tender is at rank #49,393, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɑ̃.dɛʁ\.
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 55102, this pair ranks #129,663 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tend vs tender
Shared letters: dent. Private to "tend": -. Private to "tender": r.
"tend" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "tender" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tend" and "tender" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "tend" vs "tender" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "tend" and "tender" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tender" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #129,663 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tend" and "tender" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tender vs ténue". 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 #129,663 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.