Which to use
“tension” and “tesson” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,108
- “tension” frequency rank
- #40,049
- “tesson” frequency rank
- 43157
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tension | tesson |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | État de ce qui est tendu. | Débris de bouteille cassée, de pot cassé. |
Where the eye mixes tension and tesson
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. tension runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against tesson's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tension with tesson
A purely visual mix-up. tension (\tɑ̃.sjɔ̃\) and tesson (\tɛ.sɔ̃\) 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 43157, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tension is recorded at frequency rank #3,108, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɑ̃.sjɔ̃\. tesson is at rank #40,049, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɛ.sɔ̃\.
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 43157, this pair ranks #220,219 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tension vs tesson
Shared letters: enost. Private to "tension": i. Private to "tesson": -.
"tension" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "tesson" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tension" and "tesson" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "tension" vs "tesson" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tension" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tesson" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #220,219 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tension" and "tesson" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tesson 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 #220,219 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.