Which to use
“pretend” and “pretended” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,108
- “pretend” frequency rank
- #13,588
- “pretended” frequency rank
- 17696
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pretend | pretended |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To speak or behave so as to give a false or simulated appearance. | simple past and past participle of pretend |
Where the eye mixes pretend and pretended
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. pretend runs 7 letters (CCVCVCC) against pretended's 9 (CCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between pretend and pretended
A purely visual mix-up. pretend (/pɹəˈtɛnd/) and pretended (/pɹɪˈtɛndɪd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “pretend” sits inside “pretended”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17696, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pretend is recorded at frequency rank #4,108, classified as averb, pronounced /pɹəˈtɛnd/. 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 17696, this pair ranks #449,735 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pretend vs pretended
Shared letters: denprt. Private to "pretend": -. Private to "pretended": -.
"pretend" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC · "pretended" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pretend" for "pretended" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pretend" or "pretended"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pretend" 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 #449,735 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pretend" and "pretended" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pretended vs pretenders". 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 #449,735 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.