takvstenConfusable pair

Quick tell: tak is a particle, ten is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tak” is a particle and “ten” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,692
“tak” frequency rank
#10,094
“ten” frequency rank
52786
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tak ten
Definition sim este, esta, esse, essa

Letter map: tak vs ten

Shared letters muted; letters that set tak and ten apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
tak
3 ch
ten

Role in the sentence - tak and ten

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tak is aparticle and tenapronoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52786, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tak is recorded at frequency rank #42,692, classified as aparticle. ten is at rank #10,094, tagged as apron.

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 52786, this pair ranks #12,500 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tak vs ten

Shared letters: t. Private to "tak": ak. Private to "ten": en.

"tak" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "ten" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tak" and "ten" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tak" is a particle and "ten" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tak" or "ten"?
"ten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,094 in our Portuguese list, against #42,692 for "tak". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "tak" and "ten".

  • Full dictionary entry for "tak" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ten" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #12,500 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tak" and "ten" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tak vs til". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #12,500 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list