pretendemosvspretendesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#20,472
“pretendemos” frequency rank
#18,947
“pretendes” frequency rank
39419
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pretendemos pretendes
Definition Primera persona del plural (nosotros, nosotras) del presente de indicativo de pretender. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de pretender.

Where the eye mixes pretendemos and pretendes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. pretendemos runs 11 letters (CCVCVCCVCVC) against pretendes's 9 (CCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
pretendemos
9 ch
pretendes

Why the eye confuses pretendemos with pretendes

A purely visual mix-up. pretendemos ([pɾet̪ẽn̪ˈd̪emos]) and pretendes ([pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪es]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39419, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pretendemos is recorded at frequency rank #20,472, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾet̪ẽn̪ˈd̪emos]. pretendes is at rank #18,947, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪es].

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 39419, this pair ranks #164,571 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pretendemos vs pretendes

Shared letters: denprst. Private to "pretendemos": mo. Private to "pretendes": -.

"pretendemos" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCCVCVC  ·  "pretendes" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pretendemos ← pertendemos · ppretendemos · preetndemos · pretednemos · pretenddemos · pretendemmos · pretendemoss · pretendemso
  • pretendes ← pertendes · ppretendes · preetndes · pretednes · pretenddes · pretendess · pretendse · preteneds

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pretendemos" for "pretendes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([pɾet̪ẽn̪ˈd̪emos] versus [pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pretendemos" vs "pretendes" - which ranks higher?
"pretendes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,947 in our Spanish list, against #20,472 for "pretendemos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pretendemos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pretendes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #164,571 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pretendemos" and "pretendes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pretendas vs pretendes". 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 #164,571 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