Which to use
“tiennent” is a verb and “tiennes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,104
- “tiennent” frequency rank
- #24,793
- “tiennes” frequency rank
- 28897
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tiennent | tiennes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de tenir. | Féminin pluriel de tien. |
Same sound, different letters: tiennent vs tiennes
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. tiennent runs 8 letters (CVVCCVCC) against tiennes's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - tiennent / tiennes
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: tiennent and tiennes carry the same recorded pronunciation, \tjɛn\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28897, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tiennent is recorded at frequency rank #4,104, classified as averb, pronounced \tjɛn\. tiennes is at rank #24,793, tagged as anadj, pronounced \tjɛn\.
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 28897, this pair ranks #319,965 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tiennent vs tiennes
Shared letters: eint. Private to "tiennent": -. Private to "tiennes": s.
"tiennent" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC · "tiennes" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tiennent" and "tiennes" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "tiennent" vs "tiennes" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "tiennent" / "tiennes". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "tiennent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tiennes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #319,965 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tiennent" and "tiennes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tiennes vs Tignes". 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 #319,965 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.