Which to use
“tenir” is a verb and “ténue” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,099
- “tenir” frequency rank
- #48,245
- “ténue” frequency rank
- 49344
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tenir | ténue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Garder fermement dans la main ou dans les mains. | Féminin singulier de ténu. |
Where the eye mixes tenir and ténue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. tenir (CVCVC) and ténue (CVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between tenir and ténue
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tenir is \tə.niʁ\ while ténue is \te.ny\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49344, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tenir is recorded at frequency rank #1,099, classified as averb, pronounced \tə.niʁ\. ténue is at rank #48,245, tagged as anadj, pronounced \te.ny\.
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 49344, this pair ranks #171,466 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tenir vs ténue
Shared letters: ent. Private to "tenir": ir. Private to "ténue": ué.
"tenir" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "ténue" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- tenir ← etnir · teinr · tenirr · tennir · tenri · tneir · ttenir
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tenir" for "ténue" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tenir" vs "ténue" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tenir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ténue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #171,466 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tenir" and "ténue" 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 #171,466 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.