Which to use
“tender” and “tente” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,393
- “tender” frequency rank
- #1,686
- “tente” frequency rank
- 51079
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tender | tente |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bateau annexe d'un paquebot, d'un yacht, destiné à transporter des bagages, du combustible ou de munitions, transborder des passagers, etc. | Sorte de pavillon fait ordinairement de toile, d’étoffe tendue, dont on se sert à la guerre, à la campagne, pour se mettre à couvert. |
Where the eye mixes tender and tente
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tender runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against tente's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between tender and tente
A purely visual mix-up. tender (\tɑ̃.dɛʁ\) and tente (\tɑ̃t\) 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 51079, 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\. tente is at rank #1,686, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɑ̃t\.
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 51079, this pair ranks #157,765 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tender vs tente
Shared letters: ent. Private to "tender": dr. Private to "tente": -.
"tender" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "tente" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tender" and "tente" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "tender" or "tente"?
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 "tender" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #157,765 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tender" and "tente" 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 #157,765 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.