“Pretenses” or “Pretences”

Language

Pretenses and pretences are both English terms.

Usage

Pretenses is predominantly used in 🇺🇸 American (US) English (en-US) while pretences 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
pretenses	92	41	68	100	68	46	0	0	0	0	0	0
pretences	8	59	32	0	32	54	0	100	100	0	0	0

• In the United States, there is a preference for "pretenses" over "pretences" (92 to 8).
• In the United Kingdom, there is a 59 to 41 preference for "pretences" over "pretenses".
• In India, there is a preference for "pretenses" over "pretences" (68 to 32).
• In the Philippines, there is a preference for "pretenses" over "pretences" (100 to 0).
• In Canada, there is a preference for "pretenses" over "pretences" (68 to 32).
• In Australia, there is a 54 to 46 preference for "pretences" over "pretenses".
• In Liberia, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "pretenses" and "pretences".
• In Ireland, there is a 100 to 0 preference for "pretences" over "pretenses".
• In New Zealand, there is a 100 to 0 preference for "pretences" over "pretenses".
• In Jamaica, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "pretenses" and "pretences".
• In Trinidad & Tobago, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "pretenses" and "pretences".
• In Guyana, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "pretenses" and "pretences".

Examples

Below, we provide some examples of when to use pretenses or pretences with sample sentences.

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