Which to use
“tendo” is a verb and “tensão” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #591
- “tendo” frequency rank
- #2,913
- “tensão” frequency rank
- 3504
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tendo | tensão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | esticar, estender. | o ato ou efeito de esticar ou forçar algo ao seu limite |
Where the eye mixes tendo and tensão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. tendo runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against tensão's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: tendo vs tensão
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tendo is /ˈten.doː/ while tensão is /tẽ.ˈsɐ.ɐ̃w̃/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3504, 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/. 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 3504, this pair ranks #71,639 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tendo vs tensão
Shared letters: enot. Private to "tendo": d. Private to "tensão": sã.
"tendo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tensão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- tendo ← etndo · tedno · tenddo · tenndo · tenod · tnedo · ttendo
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "tendo" and "tensão" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "tendo" or "tensão"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "tendo" and "tensão" 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 "tensão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #71,639 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tendo" and "tensão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tengo vs tensão". 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 #71,639 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.