tenaz vs tenho, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#42,239
“tenaz” frequency rank: #90
“tenho” frequency rank: 42329
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	tenaz	tenho
Definition	muito aderente	primeira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo ter

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

tenaz

5 ch

tenho

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tenaz is anadjective and tenhoaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42329, 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/. tenho is at rank #90, 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 42329, this pair ranks #23,469 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tenaz vs tenho

Shared letters: ent. Private to "tenaz": az. Private to "tenho": ho.

"tenaz" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "tenho" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

tenaz ← etnaz · teanz · tenazz · tennaz · tenza · tneaz · ttenaz
tenho ← etnho · tehno · tenhho · tennho · tenoh · tneho · ttenho

Frequency comparison

tenaz#42,239

tenho#90

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tenaz" and "tenho" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tenaz" is an adjective and "tenho" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "tenaz" or "tenho"?

"tenho" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #90 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 tenho

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 “tenho”.
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