pretendenvspretendesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,720
“pretenden” frequency rank
#18,947
“pretendes” frequency rank
25667
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pretenden pretendes
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pretender. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de pretender.

Where the eye mixes pretenden and pretendes

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

9 ch
pretenden
9 ch
pretendes

Look-alike desk: pretenden vs pretendes

A purely visual mix-up. pretenden ([pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪ẽn]) 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 a single letter - n in “pretenden” becomes s in “pretendes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25667, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pretenden is recorded at frequency rank #6,720, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪ẽn]. 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 25667, this pair ranks #235,372 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pretenden vs pretendes

Shared letters: denprt. Private to "pretenden": -. Private to "pretendes": s.

"pretenden" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC  ·  "pretendes" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pretenden ← pertenden · ppretenden · preetnden · pretednen · pretendden · pretendenn · pretendne · pretenedn
  • pretendes ← pertendes · ppretendes · preetndes · pretednes · pretenddes · pretendess · pretendse · preteneds

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pretenden" for "pretendes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪ẽn] versus [pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pretenden" vs "pretendes" - which ranks higher?
"pretenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,720 in our Spanish list, against #18,947 for "pretendes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pretenden" 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 #235,372 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pretenden" 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 #235,372 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