tenvstênisConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#10,094
“ten” frequency rank
#3,294
“tênis” frequency rank
13388
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ten tênis
Definition este, esta, esse, essa desporto individual (ou de duplas) no qual os jogadores enviam um ao outro uma pequena bola, com ajuda de raquetes por sobre uma rede que divide a quadra de jogo

Letter map: ten vs tênis

Shared letters muted; letters that set ten and tênis apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
ten
5 ch
tênis

Role in the sentence - ten and tênis

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ten is apronoun and tênisanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13388, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ten is recorded at frequency rank #10,094, classified as apron. tênis is at rank #3,294, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈte.nis/.

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 13388, this pair ranks #58,974 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ten vs tênis

Shared letters: nt. Private to "ten": e. Private to "tênis": isê.

"ten" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "tênis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "ten" for "tênis" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ten" is a pronoun and "tênis" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ten" or "tênis"?
"tênis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,294 in our Portuguese list, against #10,094 for "ten". 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 "ten" and "tênis".

  • Full dictionary entry for "ten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tênis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #58,974 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ten" and "tênis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ten vs tengo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #58,974 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