pending

/ˈpɛndɪŋ/adjective, preposition, verb

pending is spelled P-E-N-D-I-N-G: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 6,884th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, pending means “Awaiting a conclusion or a confirmation” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in pending?

Letters	7: P-E-N-D-I-N-G
Syllables	2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing	10 times per million words; the 6,884th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is pending?

Pending appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 6,884th most frequent word form in the list.

pending0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce pending?

/ˈpɛndɪŋ/

Pending has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-pending.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-pending.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What does pending mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

1
Awaiting a conclusion or a confirmation.
2
Begun but not completed.
3
About to happen; imminent or impending.

preposition

1
While waiting for something; until.
Pending the outcome of the investigation, the police officer is suspended from duty.
2
During.
Pending the investigation, the police officer is suspended from duty.

verb

1
present participle and gerund of pend (a form of pend)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Pending in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

Language	Words
French	en suspens (awaiting a conclusion or a confirmation)
German	anstehend (awaiting a conclusion or a confirmation), in Bearbeitung (begun but not completed), anhängig, schwebend (about to happen; imminent or impending)
Portuguese	pendente (awaiting a conclusion or a confirmation)
Spanish	pendiente (awaiting a conclusion or a confirmation), en cola (begun but not completed)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.