tengo vs tensão, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#46,588
“tengo” frequency rank: #2,913
“tensão” frequency rank: 49501
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	tengo	tensão
Definition	primeira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo tener	o ato ou efeito de esticar ou forçar algo ao seu limite

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set tengo and tensão apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

tengo

6 ch

tensão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tengo is averb and tensãoanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49501, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tengo is recorded at frequency rank #46,588, classified as averb. 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 49501, this pair ranks #15,500 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tengo vs tensão

Shared letters: enot. Private to "tengo": g. Private to "tensão": sã.

"tengo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tensão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

tengo ← etngo · tegno · tenggo · tenngo · tenog · tnego · ttengo

Frequency comparison

tengo#46,588

tensão#2,913

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tengo" and "tensão" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tengo" is a verb and "tensão" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "tengo" or "tensão"?

"tensão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,913 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 tensão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “tengo”; for a noun, it's “tensão”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tengo” entry
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