tenazvstenhamWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tenaz is a adjective, tenham is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tenaz” is an adjective and “tenham” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,239
“tenaz” frequency rank
#1,261
“tenham” frequency rank
43500
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tenaz tenham
Definition muito aderente terceira pessoa do plural do presente do conjuntivo do verbo ter

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tenaz and tenham apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
tenaz
6 ch
tenham

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tenaz is anadjective and tenhamaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43500, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tenaz is recorded at frequency rank #42,239, classified as anadj, pronounced /tɨ.ˈnaʃ/. tenham is at rank #1,261, 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 43500, this pair ranks #22,120 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tenaz vs tenham

Shared letters: aent. Private to "tenaz": z. Private to "tenham": hm.

"tenaz" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "tenham" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tenazetnaz · teanz · tenazz · tennaz · tenza · tneaz · ttenaz
  • tenhametnham · tehnam · tenahm · tenhamm · tenhham · tenhma · tennham · tneham

Frequency comparison

tenaz#42,239
tenham#1,261

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tenaz" and "tenham" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tenaz" is an adjective and "tenham" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tenaz" or "tenham"?
"tenham" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,261 in our Portuguese list, against #42,239 for "tenaz". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering tenaz vs tenham

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “tenaz”; for a verb, it's “tenham”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tenaz” 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