Which to use
“prétendu” and “prétendus” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,645
- “prétendu” frequency rank
- #31,197
- “prétendus” frequency rank
- 42842
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prétendu | prétendus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qualifie des choses dont on ne veut pas convenir, des qualités fausses ou douteuses. | Masculin pluriel de prétendu. |
Same sound, different letters: prétendu vs prétendus
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. prétendu runs 8 letters (CCVCVCCV) against prétendus's 9 (CCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - prétendu and prétendus
This is the hard kind. prétendu and prétendus 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 1 extra letter(s) - “prétendu” sits inside “prétendus”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42842, 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\. prétendus is at rank #31,197, 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 42842, this pair ranks #222,530 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prétendu vs prétendus
Shared letters: denprtué. Private to "prétendu": -. Private to "prétendus": s.
"prétendu" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV · "prétendus" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "prétendu" for "prétendus" ever safe?
Frequency check: "prétendu" vs "prétendus" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
"prétendu" and "prétendus" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "prétendu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prétendus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #222,530 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prétendu" and "prétendus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prétendues vs prétendus". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #222,530 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.