What does "pretend" mean?

1. (to act as if) to behave as if something is true when you know it is not. 2. (to claim a skill or status) to claim that you have a certain skill, title, or right. 3. (imaginary or fake) not real; used in games or to describe something that is a copy. 4. (imaginative play) the act of playing and imagining things.

How do you use "pretend"?

Commonly followed by a 'to' infinitive or a 'that' clause. Often takes the preposition 'to' when followed by a noun phrase.

pretend — meaning, definition & examples

Q: Is it correct to say "He pretended being asleep."?

No — say "He pretended to be asleep.". The verb 'pretend' is followed by a to-infinitive, not a gerund (-ing form).

Word

01to act as if

B1 · Intermediate

v. to behave as if something is true when you know it is not.

v. to simulate a state, quality, or identity, either for deception or as part of a game.

“The children liked to pretend they were explorers in a deep jungle.”

“She had to pretend to be interested in his long stories about stamp collecting just to remain polite during the dinner party.”

Usage

Commonly followed by a 'to' infinitive or a 'that' clause.

Pitfall

He pretended being asleep.

He pretended to be asleep.

The verb 'pretend' is followed by a to-infinitive, not a gerund (-ing form).

Synonyms

feignfake simulate

Antonyms

revealbe honest

02to claim a skill or status

C1 · Advanced Formal

v. to claim that you have a certain skill, title, or right.

v. to lay claim to a particular status, right, or ability; often used in the negative to suggest modesty or honesty.

“I do not pretend to be an expert on this difficult subject.”

“He did not pretend to any great legal knowledge, yet his instinctive sense of justice often led him to the correct conclusion.”

Usage

Often takes the preposition 'to' when followed by a noun phrase.

Synonyms

claim aspire profess

03imaginary or fake

B1 · Intermediate

adj. not real; used in games or to describe something that is a copy.

adj. imaginary or feigned; used attributively to describe objects or situations in play.

“The little boy served his mother some pretend tea in a plastic cup.”

“The training exercise involved a pretend emergency to test how quickly the hospital staff could evacuate the building.”

Synonyms

imaginary fake mock

Antonyms

real genuine

04imaginative play

B2 · Upper Intermediate Uncountable noun Informal

n. the act of playing and imagining things.

n. the activity of engaging in imaginative or make-believe play.

“The sisters spent the whole afternoon lost in a world of pretend.”

“Psychologists suggest that engaging in games of pretend is a vital stage in a child's cognitive and social development.”

Synonyms

make-believeroleplay

Antonyms

reality

Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word “pretend” in context.

Verb

01. just pretend to listen

“She didn't understand the lecture, so she just pretended to listen by nodding her head.”

adv + verb + infinitive

02. pretend that everything is fine

“Even though he was very sad, he pretended that everything is fine in front of his friends.”

verb + that-clause

03. pretend to be asleep

“When my mom came into the room, I pretended to be asleep so she wouldn't talk to me.”

verb + infinitive

Noun

04. game of pretend

“The children spent the whole afternoon lost in a game of pretend, acting like pirates.”

noun + of + noun

Adverb

05. playfully pretend to fight

“The two puppies were playfully pretending to fight in the garden.”

adv + verb + infinitive

06. simply pretend to understand

“If you don't know the answer, don't simply pretend to understand; just ask for help.”

adv + verb + infinitive

pretend vs intend

Pretend is acting out a fiction; intend is planning a future reality.

RememberPretend is a play; Intend is a plan.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-der. Proto-Italic *prai Proto-Italic *prai- Latin prae- Proto-Indo-European *ten- Proto-Indo-European *tend-der. Proto-Italic *tendō Latin tendō Latin praetendōbor. Anglo-Norman pretendreder. English pretend From Anglo-Norman pretendre, Middle French pretendre (French prétendre (“to claim, demand”)), from Latin praetendere (“to put forward, hold out, pretend”), from prae- (“pre-”) + tendō (“stretch”); see tend.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

VERB

pretend(B1)

NOUN

ADJECTIVE

Perfect infinitives and participles