What is the difference between pretence and pretense

The first and the foremost thing to know is that both the spellings are correct and acceptable all over the world. The differences arise due to changes in American English which started in 19 th century and lead to all the chaos.

Pretence as noun:. Pretence is used as a noun in English language where it means an attempt to make something that is not the case appear true. His anger is masked by a pretence that all is well. A false display of feelings, attitudes, or intentions is also called pretence.

He asked me questions without any pretence at politeness. Pretence is used in the sense of practicing the invention of imaginary situations in play or affected and ostentatious speech and behavior. They have always avoided preciousness and pretence. A claim to have a particular skill or quality is sometimes referred to as pretence too. He was quick to disclaim any pretence to superiority. Pretence or pretense:. Pretence and pretense are different spellings of the same word.

Both spellings are correct. If someone is writing in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, or Australia, they are more likely to use the spelling pretence. However you spell it, you can use the noun pretense to say a couple of things.

It became obvious that his theories were nothing but pretense. You can also use the word pretense as a synonym for guise or simulation. In this sense, a pretense is a false claim intended to hide the true purpose of something. They entered the country under the pretense of being journalists. You don't even want to know what he calls pancakes. Previous post. Next post. Skip to content In the English language, there is a wide array of words that mean exactly the same and are spelled almost in the same way but due to the country or region the proper way might vary by just one letter and that is the case for these two words.

About Shawn Manaher. What You Must Know. Next post Is It Principle or Principal? What does pretence mean? Pretence is a variant of the same word, primarily found in British English sources. It carries the same meanings, and is appropriate in all the same contexts. This graph charts pretence vs. Here, you can see that pretence has followed a similar downward trajectory in British English, but not to the point that it has become less popular than pretense in that language community.

While each word indicates the same thing, these are regional spellings to be used with difference audiences.