teimavstenhaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: teima is a noun, tenha is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“teima” is a noun and “tenha” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,488
“teima” frequency rank
#369
“tenha” frequency rank
34857
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature teima tenha
Definition ato ou efeito de teimar; teimosia: primeira pessoa do singular do presente do conjuntivo do verbo ter

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set teima and tenha apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
teima
5 ch
tenha

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

teima and tenha form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34857, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

teima is recorded at frequency rank #34,488, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈtɐj.mɐ/. tenha is at rank #369, tagged as averb.

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 34857, this pair ranks #32,309 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

teima#34,488
tenha#369

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "teima" and "tenha" be used interchangeably?
No, "teima" and "tenha" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering teima vs tenha

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “teima”; for a verb, it's “tenha”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “teima” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list