precedevspretendeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“precede” and “pretende” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#25,767
“precede” frequency rank
#2,799
“pretende” frequency rank
28566
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature precede pretende
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de preceder. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pretender.

Where the eye mixes precede and pretende

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
precede
8 ch
pretende

Look-alike desk: precede vs pretende

A purely visual mix-up. precede ([pɾeˈseð̞e]) and pretende ([pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪e]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28566, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

precede is recorded at frequency rank #25,767, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾeˈseð̞e]. pretende is at rank #2,799, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪e].

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 28566, this pair ranks #221,372 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of precede vs pretende

Shared letters: depr. Private to "precede": c. Private to "pretende": nt.

"precede" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "pretende" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • precedepercede · pprecede · prceede · preccede · precdee · precedde · preceed · preecde
  • pretendepertende · ppretende · preetnde · pretedne · pretendde · pretened · pretennde · pretnede

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "precede" and "pretende" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pɾeˈseð̞e] versus [pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "precede" or "pretende"?
"pretende" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,799 in our Spanish list, against #25,767 for "precede". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "precede" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pretende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #221,372 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "precede" and "pretende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "precede vs preceden". 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 #221,372 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list