Which to use
“prétendu” and “prétendues” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,645
- “prétendu” frequency rank
- #39,478
- “prétendues” frequency rank
- 51123
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prétendu | prétendues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qualifie des choses dont on ne veut pas convenir, des qualités fausses ou douteuses. | Féminin pluriel de prétendu. |
Same sound, different letters: prétendu vs prétendues
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. prétendu runs 8 letters (CCVCVCCV) against prétendues's 10 (CCVCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: prétendu vs prétendues
This is the hard kind. prétendu and prétendues are pronounced identically (\pʁe.tɑ̃.dy\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “prétendu” sits inside “prétendues”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prétendu is recorded at frequency rank #11,645, classified as anadj, pronounced \pʁe.tɑ̃.dy\. prétendues is at rank #39,478, 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 51123, this pair ranks #157,410 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prétendu vs prétendues
Shared letters: denprtué. Private to "prétendu": -. Private to "prétendues": s.
"prétendu" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV · "prétendues" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "prétendu" and "prétendues" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "prétendu" vs "prétendues" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "prétendu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prétendues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #157,410 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prétendu" and "prétendues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prétendez vs prétendues". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #157,410 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.