pretendasvspretendíanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#43,787
“pretendas” frequency rank
#18,648
“pretendían” frequency rank
62435
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pretendas pretendían
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de pretender. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de pretender.

Where the eye mixes pretendas and pretendían

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. pretendas runs 9 letters (CCVCVCCVC) against pretendían's 10 (CCVCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
pretendas
10 ch
pretendían

Look-alike desk: pretendas vs pretendían

A purely visual mix-up. pretendas ([pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪as]) and pretendían ([pɾet̪ẽn̪ˈd̪iãn]) 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 62435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pretendas is recorded at frequency rank #43,787, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪as]. pretendían is at rank #18,648, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾet̪ẽn̪ˈd̪iãn].

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 62435, this pair ranks #52,042 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pretendas vs pretendían

Shared letters: adenprt. Private to "pretendas": s. Private to "pretendían": í.

"pretendas" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC  ·  "pretendían" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pretendas ← pertendas · ppretendas · preetndas · pretednas · pretenads · pretendass · pretenddas · pretendsa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pretendas" and "pretendían" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪as] versus [pɾet̪ẽn̪ˈd̪iãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pretendas" or "pretendían"?
"pretendían" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,648 in our Spanish list, against #43,787 for "pretendas". 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 "pretendas" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pretendían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #52,042 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pretendas" and "pretendían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prebendas vs pretendas". 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 #52,042 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