Which to use
“prétends” is a verb and “prétendu” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,294
- “prétends” frequency rank
- #11,645
- “prétendu” frequency rank
- 29939
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prétends | prétendu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de prétendre. | Qualifie des choses dont on ne veut pas convenir, des qualités fausses ou douteuses. |
Where the eye mixes prétends and prétendu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. prétends (CCVCVCCC) and prétendu (CCVCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between prétends and prétendu
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prétends is \pʁe.tɑ̃\ while prétendu is \pʁe.tɑ̃.dy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - s in “prétends” becomes u in “prétendu”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29939, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prétends is recorded at frequency rank #18,294, classified as averb, pronounced \pʁe.tɑ̃\. prétendu is at rank #11,645, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁe.tɑ̃.dy\.
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 29939, this pair ranks #313,512 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prétends vs prétendu
Shared letters: denprté. Private to "prétends": s. Private to "prétendu": u.
"prétends" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCC · "prétendu" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "prétends" and "prétendu" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "prétends" or "prétendu"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "prétends" and "prétendu" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "prétends" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prétendu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #313,512 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prétends" and "prétendu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prêtées vs prétends". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #313,512 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.