Which to use
“tengo” is a verb and “tênis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,588
- “tengo” frequency rank
- #3,294
- “tênis” frequency rank
- 49882
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tengo | tênis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | primeira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo tener | 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 |
Letter map: tengo vs tênis
Shared letters muted; letters that set tengo and tênis apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. tengo (CVCCV) and tênis (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Role in the sentence - tengo and tênis
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tengo is averb and tênisanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tengo is recorded at frequency rank #46,588, classified as averb. 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 49882, this pair ranks #15,108 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tengo vs tênis
Shared letters: nt. Private to "tengo": ego. Private to "tênis": isê.
"tengo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tênis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- tengo ← etngo · tegno · tenggo · tenngo · tenog · tnego · ttengo
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tengo" and "tênis" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "tengo" vs "tênis" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
You've compared "tengo" and "tênis". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "tengo" 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 #15,108 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tengo" and "tênis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "teco 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 #15,108 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.