Which to use
“tient” and “tint” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,100
- “tient” frequency rank
- #26,204
- “tint” frequency rank
- 27304
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tient | tint |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de tenir. | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de tenir. |
Where the eye mixes tient and tint
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tient with tint
A purely visual mix-up. tient (\tjɛ̃\) and tint (\tɛ̃\) 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 27304, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tient is recorded at frequency rank #1,100, classified as averb, pronounced \tjɛ̃\. tint is at rank #26,204, tagged as averb, pronounced \tɛ̃\.
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 27304, this pair ranks #329,828 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tient vs tint
Shared letters: int. Private to "tient": e. Private to "tint": -.
"tient" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "tint" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tient" for "tint" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tient" or "tint"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "tient" and "tint" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tint" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #329,828 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tient" and "tint" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tif vs tint". 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 #329,828 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.