tendão vs tensão, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“tendão” and “tensão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#32,401
“tendão” frequency rank: #2,913
“tensão” frequency rank: 35314
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	tendão	tensão
Definition	cordão fibroso, formado por tecido conjuntivo, graças ao qual os músculos se inserem nos ossos ou nos outros órgãos	o ato ou efeito de esticar ou forçar algo ao seu limite

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tendão and tensão apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

tendão

6 ch

tensão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. tendão (/tẽ.ˈdɐ̃w̃/) and tensão (/tẽ.ˈsɐ.ɐ̃w̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - d in “tendão” becomes s in “tensão”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35314, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tendão is recorded at frequency rank #32,401, classified as anoun, pronounced /tẽ.ˈdɐ̃w̃/. tensão is at rank #2,913, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tẽ.ˈsɐ.ɐ̃w̃/.

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 35314, this pair ranks #31,738 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tendão vs tensão

Shared letters: enotã. Private to "tendão": d. Private to "tensão": s.

"tendão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "tensão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Frequency comparison

tendão#32,401

tensão#2,913

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tendão" and "tensão" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/tẽ.ˈdɐ̃w̃/ versus /tẽ.ˈsɐ.ɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "tendão" or "tensão"?

"tensão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,913 in our Portuguese list, against #32,401 for "tendão". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering tendão vs tensão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tendão” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable