pretender
Spanish, verb/pɾetenˈdeɾ/
pretender is spelled P-R-E-T-E-N-D-E-R (9 letters) and appears 7.4 times per million words in written Spanish, the 8,927th most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Pretender is a Spanish verb meaning “to intend, to aim (for/to)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Hacer diligencias o esfuerzos para conseguir lo que se desea”.
What does pretender mean in English?
verb
- 1
to intend, to aim (for/to)
Juan pretende tener su casa propia en tres años.
- 2
to woo, to court
Juan pretende a Fernanda porque él siempre le lleva rosas y chocolates
- 3
Latin-Americanonstandardproscribedto pretend, purport (claim, allege)
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Hacer diligencias o esfuerzos para conseguir lo que se desea. 2. Solicitar una cosa, haciendo las diligencias necesarias para su consecución. 3. Intentar algo que a priori no es posible. 4. Cortejar a una mujer para volverse su pareja o casarse con ella.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of pretender
- pretendo first-person present singular
- pretendí first-person preterite singular
- pretendido participle past
- pretendiendo gerund
- pretendida feminine participle past
- pretendidos masculine participle past
- pretendidas feminine participle past
- pretendes indicative informal present
- pretendés indicative informal present
- pretende indicative present singular
- pretendemos first-person indicative plural
- pretendéis indicative plural present
- pretenden indicative plural present
- pretendía first-person imperfect indicative
- pretendías imperfect indicative second-person
- pretendíamos first-person imperfect indicative
- pretendíais imperfect indicative plural
- pretendían imperfect indicative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce pretender?
- /pɾetenˈdeɾ/
- [pɾe.t̪ẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]
- [pɾet̪ẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]
Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to pretender
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is pretender in Spanish?
pretender appears 7.4 times per million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).