Which to use
“tendão” is a noun and “tentam” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,401
- “tendão” frequency rank
- #4,680
- “tentam” frequency rank
- 37081
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tendão | tentam |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | cordão fibroso, formado por tecido conjuntivo, graças ao qual os músculos se inserem nos ossos ou nos outros órgãos | terceira pessoa do plural do presente do modo indicativo do verbo tentar |
Where the eye mixes tendão and tentam
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tendão (CVCCVV) and tentam (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses tendão with tentam
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tendão is /tẽ.ˈdɐ̃w̃/ while tentam is /ˈtẽ.tɐ̃w̃/ [ˈtẽ.tɐ̃ʊ̯̃]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37081, 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/. tentam is at rank #4,680, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈtẽ.tɐ̃w̃/ [ˈtẽ.tɐ̃ʊ̯̃].
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 37081, this pair ranks #29,607 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tendão vs tentam
Shared letters: ent. Private to "tendão": doã. Private to "tentam": am.
"tendão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "tentam" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- tentam ← etntam · tenatm · tenntam · tentamm · tentma · tenttam · tetnam · tnetam
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tendão" and "tentam" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "tendão" or "tentam"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tendão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tentam" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #29,607 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tendão" and "tentam" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tendão vs tengo". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #29,607 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.