Which to use
“pretended” is a verb and “pretense” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,588
- “pretended” frequency rank
- #28,675
- “pretense” frequency rank
- 42263
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pretended | pretense |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of pretend | The action of pretending; false or simulated show or appearance; false or hypocritical assertion or representation. |
Where the eye mixes pretended and pretense
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. pretended runs 9 letters (CCVCVCCVC) against pretense's 8 (CCVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pretended with pretense
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pretended is /pɹɪˈtɛndɪd/ while pretense is /ˈpɹiːtɛns/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pretended is recorded at frequency rank #13,588, classified as averb, pronounced /pɹɪˈtɛndɪd/. pretense is at rank #28,675, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹiːtɛns/.
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 42263, this pair ranks #250,816 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pretended vs pretense
Shared letters: enprt. Private to "pretended": d. Private to "pretense": s.
"pretended" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC · "pretense" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pretended" and "pretense" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "pretended" or "pretense"?
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 "pretended" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pretense" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #250,816 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pretended" and "pretense" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pretence vs pretense". 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 #250,816 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.