pretendenvspretendoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,720
“pretenden” frequency rank
#12,900
“pretendo” frequency rank
19620
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pretenden pretendo
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pretender. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de pretender.

Where the eye mixes pretenden and pretendo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
pretenden
8 ch
pretendo

Why the eye confuses pretenden with pretendo

A purely visual mix-up. pretenden ([pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪ẽn]) and pretendo ([pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪o]) 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 19620, 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]. pretendo is at rank #12,900, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪o].

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 19620, this pair ranks #262,952 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pretenden vs pretendo

Shared letters: denprt. Private to "pretenden": -. Private to "pretendo": o.

"pretenden" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC  ·  "pretendo" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pretendenpertenden · ppretenden · preetnden · pretednen · pretendden · pretendenn · pretendne · pretenedn
  • pretendopertendo · ppretendo · preetndo · pretedno · pretenddo · pretenndo · pretenod · pretnedo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pretenden" and "pretendo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪ẽn] versus [pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pretenden" vs "pretendo" - which ranks higher?
"pretenden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,720 in our Spanish list, against #12,900 for "pretendo". 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 "pretenden" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pretendo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #262,952 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pretenden" and "pretendo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pretendo vs previendo". 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 #262,952 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