Which to use
“tender” is a noun and “tenir” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,393
- “tender” frequency rank
- #1,099
- “tenir” frequency rank
- 50492
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tender | tenir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bateau annexe d'un paquebot, d'un yacht, destiné à transporter des bagages, du combustible ou de munitions, transborder des passagers, etc. | Garder fermement dans la main ou dans les mains. |
Where the eye mixes tender and tenir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: tender vs tenir
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tender is \tɑ̃.dɛʁ\ while tenir is \tə.niʁ\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tender is recorded at frequency rank #49,393, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɑ̃.dɛʁ\. tenir is at rank #1,099, tagged as averb, pronounced \tə.niʁ\.
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 50492, this pair ranks #162,197 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tender vs tenir
Shared letters: enrt. Private to "tender": d. Private to "tenir": i.
"tender" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "tenir" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tender" for "tenir" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tender" vs "tenir" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "tender" and "tenir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tender" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tenir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #162,197 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tender" and "tenir" 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 #162,197 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.