tênisvstentoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: tênis is a noun, tento is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“tênis” is a noun and “tento” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,294
“tênis” frequency rank
#4,187
“tento” frequency rank
7481
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tênis tento
Definition 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 este / esta / isto

Letter map: tênis vs tento

Shared letters muted; letters that set tênis and tento apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

5 ch
tênis
5 ch
tento

Role in the sentence - tênis and tento

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tênis is anoun and tentoapronoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7481, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tênis is recorded at frequency rank #3,294, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈte.nis/. tento is at rank #4,187, tagged as apron.

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 7481, this pair ranks #66,642 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tênis vs tento

Shared letters: nt. Private to "tênis": isê. Private to "tento": eo.

"tênis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "tento" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tentoetnto · tennto · tenot · tentto · tetno · tneto · ttento

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tênis" and "tento" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tênis" is a noun and "tento" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "tênis" or "tento" show up more?
"tênis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,294 in our Portuguese list, against #4,187 for "tento". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "tênis" and "tento".

  • Full dictionary entry for "tênis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tento" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #66,642 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tênis" and "tento" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tengo vs tento". 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 #66,642 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list