ten vs til, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#10,094
“ten” frequency rank: #44,136
“til” frequency rank: 54230
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ten	til
Definition	este, esta, esse, essa	sinal diacrítico (~) utilizado para modificar a pronúncia de determinadas letras no português (indicando nasalização) e em alguns outros idiomas ( bretão ...)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ten and til apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

ten

3 ch

til

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ten is apronoun and tilanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54230, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ten is recorded at frequency rank #10,094, classified as apron. til is at rank #44,136, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈʧiw/.

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 54230, this pair ranks #11,426 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ten vs til

Shared letters: t. Private to "ten": en. Private to "til": il.

"ten" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "til" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

ten#10,094

til#44,136

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ten" and "til" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ten" is a pronoun and "til" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "ten" or "til"?

"ten" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,094 in our Portuguese list, against #44,136 for "til". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ten vs til

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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