tengovstenhaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#46,588
“tengo” frequency rank
#369
“tenha” frequency rank
46957
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tengo tenha
Definition primeira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo tener primeira pessoa do singular do presente do conjuntivo do verbo ter

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
tengo
5 ch
tenha

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

tengo and tenha are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tengo is recorded at frequency rank #46,588, classified as averb. tenha is at rank #369, 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 46957, this pair ranks #18,350 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tengo vs tenha

Shared letters: ent. Private to "tengo": go. Private to "tenha": ah.

"tengo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "tenha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tengoetngo · tegno · tenggo · tenngo · tenog · tnego · ttengo
  • tenhaetnha · tehna · tenah · tenhha · tennha · tneha · ttenha

Frequency comparison

tengo#46,588
tenha#369

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tengo" and "tenha" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "tengo" or "tenha"?
"tenha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #369 in our Portuguese list, against #46,588 for "tengo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering tengo vs tenha

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 “tengo” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list