pretendanvspretendenWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#32,350
“pretendan” frequency rank
#6,720
“pretenden” frequency rank
39070
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pretendan pretenden
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de pretender. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pretender.

Where the eye mixes pretendan and pretenden

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. pretendan and pretenden follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
pretendan
9 ch
pretenden

Visual trap between pretendan and pretenden

A purely visual mix-up. pretendan ([pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪ãn]) and pretenden ([pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪ẽn]) 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 a single letter - a in “pretendan” becomes e in “pretenden”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39070, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pretendan is recorded at frequency rank #32,350, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪ãn]. pretenden is at rank #6,720, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪ẽn].

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 39070, this pair ranks #166,551 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pretendan vs pretenden

Shared letters: denprt. Private to "pretendan": a. Private to "pretenden": -.

"pretendan" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC  ·  "pretenden" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pretendan ← pertendan · ppretendan · preetndan · pretednan · pretenadn · pretendann · pretenddan · pretendna
  • pretenden ← pertenden · ppretenden · preetnden · pretednen · pretendden · pretendenn · pretendne · pretenedn

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pretendan" and "pretenden" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪ãn] versus [pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪ẽn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pretendan" or "pretenden"?
"pretenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,720 in our Spanish list, against #32,350 for "pretendan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pretendan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pretenden" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #166,551 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pretendan" and "pretenden" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prendan vs pretendan". 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 #166,551 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