pretender
[pɾet̪ẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]
The verdict
“pretender” is a regularly-used Spanish word, ranked #9,023 in Spanish word frequency and used as a verb.
- #9,023
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Hacer diligencias o esfuerzos para conseguir lo que se desea.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pretender |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | [pɾet̪ẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ] |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #9,023 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pretender” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for pretender is 9 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [pɾet̪ẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]. Corpus data places it at rank #9,023 in overall Spanish word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for pretender, with forms such as "pertender", "ppretender", and "preetnder". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 10 confusable-pair relationships, "pretendo", "pretendía", "pretendes", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct Spanish form is pretender, spelled P-R-E-T-E-N-D-E-R.
Definition
- 1Hacer diligencias o esfuerzos para conseguir lo que se desea.
- 2Solicitar una cosa, haciendo las diligencias necesarias para su consecución.
- 3Intentar algo que a priori no es posible.
- 4Cortejar a una mujer para volverse su pareja o casarse con ella.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: pertender,ppretender,preetnder,pretedner,pretendder,pretenderr,pretendre,pretenedr,pretennder,pretneder,prettender,prretender,prteender,rpetender
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pretender - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “pretender”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is P-R-E-T-E-N-D-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [pɾet̪ẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “pretendo” - see the side-by-side comparison. pretender vs pretendo
- Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.