tengo vs tenso, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#46,588
“tengo” frequency rank: #11,362
“tenso” frequency rank: 57950
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	tengo	tenso
Definition	primeira pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo tener	que está sob tensão; em que há tensão

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

tengo

5 ch

tenso

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tengo is averb and tensoanadjective. On the page they differ by a single letter - g in “tengo” becomes s in “tenso”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57950, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tengo is recorded at frequency rank #46,588, classified as averb. tenso is at rank #11,362, tagged as anadj.

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 57950, this pair ranks #9,025 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of tengo vs tenso

Shared letters: enot. Private to "tengo": g. Private to "tenso": s.

"tengo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tenso" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

tengo ← etngo · tegno · tenggo · tenngo · tenog · tnego · ttengo
tenso ← etnso · tennso · tenos · tensso · tesno · tneso · ttenso

Frequency comparison

tengo#46,588

tenso#11,362

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

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

"tenso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,362 in our Portuguese list, against #46,588 for "tengo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tengo vs tenso

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “tengo”; for an adjective, it's “tenso”.
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