“Pretense” or “Pretence”

Language

Pretense and pretence are both English terms.

Usage

Pretense is predominantly used in 🇺🇸 American (US) English (en-US) while pretence is predominantly used in 🇬🇧 British English (used in UK/AU/NZ) (en-GB).

In terms of actual appearance and usage, here's a breakdown by country, with usage level out of 100 (if available) 👇:

Term	US	UK	India	Philippines	Canada	Australia	Liberia	Ireland	New Zealand	Jamaica	Trinidad & Tobago	Guyana
pretense	90	36	35	88	78	48	0	34	45	100	100	0
pretence	10	64	65	12	22	52	0	66	55	0	0	0

• In the United States, there is a preference for "pretense" over "pretence" (90 to 10).
• In the United Kingdom, there is a 64 to 36 preference for "pretence" over "pretense".
• In India, there is a 65 to 35 preference for "pretence" over "pretense".
• In the Philippines, there is a preference for "pretense" over "pretence" (88 to 12).
• In Canada, there is a preference for "pretense" over "pretence" (78 to 22).
• In Australia, there is a 52 to 48 preference for "pretence" over "pretense".
• In Liberia, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "pretense" and "pretence".
• In Ireland, there is a 66 to 34 preference for "pretence" over "pretense".
• In New Zealand, there is a 55 to 45 preference for "pretence" over "pretense".
• In Jamaica, there is a preference for "pretense" over "pretence" (100 to 0).
• In Trinidad & Tobago, there is a preference for "pretense" over "pretence" (100 to 0).
• In Guyana, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "pretense" and "pretence".

Examples

Below, we provide some examples of when to use pretense or pretence with sample sentences.

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