Which to use
“tendons” and “tensions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,837
- “tendons” frequency rank
- #5,614
- “tensions” frequency rank
- 36451
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tendons | tensions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de tendon. | Pluriel de tension. |
Where the eye mixes tendons and tensions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. tendons runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against tensions's 8 (CVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tendons with tensions
A purely visual mix-up. tendons (\tɑ̃.dɔ̃\) and tensions (\tɑ̃.sjɔ̃\) 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 36451, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tendons is recorded at frequency rank #30,837, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɑ̃.dɔ̃\. tensions is at rank #5,614, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɑ̃.sjɔ̃\.
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 36451, this pair ranks #269,529 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tendons vs tensions
Shared letters: enost. Private to "tendons": d. Private to "tensions": i.
"tendons" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "tensions" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tendons" and "tensions" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "tendons" or "tensions" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tendons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tensions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #269,529 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tendons" and "tensions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tendons vs tessons". 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 #269,529 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.