Which to use
“tensão” is a noun and “tento” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,913
- “tensão” frequency rank
- #4,187
- “tento” frequency rank
- 7100
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tensão | tento |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o ato ou efeito de esticar ou forçar algo ao seu limite | este / esta / isto |
Letter map: tensão vs tento
Shared letters muted; letters that set tensão and tento apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. tensão runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against tento's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - tensão and tento
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: tensão is anoun and tentoapronoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7100, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tensão is recorded at frequency rank #2,913, classified as anoun, pronounced /tẽ.ˈsɐ.ɐ̃w̃/. 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 7100, this pair ranks #67,132 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tensão vs tento
Shared letters: enot. Private to "tensão": sã. Private to "tento": -.
"tensão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "tento" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- tento ← etnto · tennto · tenot · tentto · tetno · tneto · ttento
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tensão" for "tento" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tensão" vs "tento" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
You've compared "tensão" and "tento". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "tensão" 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 #67,132 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tensão" 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 #67,132 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.