tensvsterWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“tens” and “ter” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,447
“tens” frequency rank
#60
“ter” frequency rank
2507
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tens ter
Definition segunda pessoa do singular do presente do indicativo do verbo ter acompanhado de verbo no particípio regular, indica ação passada

Letter map: tens vs ter

Shared letters muted; letters that set tens and ter apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
tens
3 ch
ter

Corpus notes: tens and ter

tens and ter are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2507, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tens is recorded at frequency rank #2,447, classified as averb. ter is at rank #60, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈteɹ/.

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 2507, this pair ranks #72,864 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of tens vs ter

Shared letters: et. Private to "tens": ns. Private to "ter": r.

"tens" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "ter" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tensetns · tenns · tenss · tesn · tnes · ttens

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "tens" and "ter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "tens" or "ter"?
"ter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #60 in our Portuguese list, against #2,447 for "tens". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "tens" and "ter".

  • Full dictionary entry for "tens" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,864 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tens" and "ter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tengo vs tens". 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 #72,864 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