Which to use
“pretence” is a noun and “pretended” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,401
- “pretence” frequency rank
- #13,588
- “pretended” frequency rank
- 53989
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pretence | pretended |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | British standard spelling of pretense. | simple past and past participle of pretend |
Where the eye mixes pretence and pretended
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between pretence and pretended
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pretence is /ˈpɹiːtɛns/ while pretended is /pɹɪˈtɛndɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53989, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pretence is recorded at frequency rank #40,401, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹiːtɛns/. pretended is at rank #13,588, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɹɪˈtɛndɪd/.
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 53989, this pair ranks #144,605 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pretence vs pretended
Shared letters: enprt. Private to "pretence": c. Private to "pretended": d.
"pretence" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV · "pretended" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pretence" for "pretended" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "pretence" or "pretended" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "pretence" and "pretended" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pretence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pretended" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #144,605 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pretence" and "pretended" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pretence vs pretender". 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 #144,605 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.