tendovstênisConfusable pair

Quick tell: tendo is a verb, tênis is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tendo” is a verb and “tênis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#591
“tendo” frequency rank
#3,294
“tênis” frequency rank
3885
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tendo tênis
Definition esticar, estender. desporto individual (ou de duplas) no qual os jogadores enviam um ao outro uma pequena bola, com ajuda de raquetes por sobre uma rede que divide a quadra de jogo

Where the eye mixes tendo and tênis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
tendo
5 ch
tênis

Why the eye confuses tendo with tênis

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tendo is /ˈten.doː/ while tênis is /ˈte.nis/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3885, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tendo is recorded at frequency rank #591, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈten.doː/. tênis is at rank #3,294, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈte.nis/.

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 3885, this pair ranks #71,191 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tendo vs tênis

Shared letters: nt. Private to "tendo": deo. Private to "tênis": isê.

"tendo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "tênis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tendoetndo · tedno · tenddo · tenndo · tenod · tnedo · ttendo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tendo" and "tênis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tendo" is a verb and "tênis" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tendo" or "tênis"?
"tendo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #591 in our Portuguese list, against #3,294 for "tênis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "tendo" and "tênis" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tendo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tênis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #71,191 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tendo" and "tênis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tengo vs tênis". 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 #71,191 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list