Which to use
“pretendes” and “pretendía” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,947
- “pretendes” frequency rank
- #7,902
- “pretendía” frequency rank
- 26849
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pretendes | pretendía |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de pretender. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de pretender. |
Where the eye mixes pretendes and pretendía
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. pretendes (CCVCVCCVC) and pretendía (CCVCVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: pretendes vs pretendía
A purely visual mix-up. pretendes ([pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪es]) and pretendía ([pɾet̪ẽn̪ˈd̪ia]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pretendes is recorded at frequency rank #18,947, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾeˈt̪ẽn̪d̪es]. pretendía is at rank #7,902, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾet̪ẽn̪ˈd̪ia].
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 26849, this pair ranks #229,643 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pretendes vs pretendía
Shared letters: denprt. Private to "pretendes": s. Private to "pretendía": aí.
"pretendes" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC · "pretendía" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pretendes ← pertendes · ppretendes · preetndes · pretednes · pretenddes · pretendess · pretendse · preteneds
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pretendes" for "pretendía" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pretendes" vs "pretendía" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "pretendes" and "pretendía" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pretendes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pretendía" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #229,643 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pretendes" and "pretendía" 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 #229,643 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.