tênisvstroisWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: tênis is a noun, trois is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#3,294
“tênis” frequency rank
#23,855
“trois” frequency rank
27149
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tênis trois
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 três (3, III):

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
tênis
5 ch
trois

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: tênis is /ˈte.nis/ while trois is /tʁwa/, /tʁwɑ/, /tʀwa/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27149, 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/. trois is at rank #23,855, tagged as anadj, pronounced /tʁwa/, /tʁwɑ/, /tʀwa/.

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 27149, this pair ranks #41,868 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tênis vs trois

Shared letters: ist. Private to "tênis": . Private to "trois": or.

"tênis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "trois" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • troisrtois · toris · trios · troiss · trosi · trrois · ttrois

Frequency comparison

tênis#3,294
trois#23,855

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "tênis" and "trois" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "tênis" is a noun and "trois" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "tênis" or "trois"?
"tênis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,294 in our Portuguese list, against #23,855 for "trois". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering tênis vs trois

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “tênis”; for an adjective, it's “trois”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “tênis” 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