Pretend Pretended I Prɪˈtend Happened Tired Time Wrong

• i'm tired of having to pretend all the time.
• of course i was wrong; it would be hypocritical to pretend otherwise.
• he pretended to his family that everything was fine.
• we pretended (that) nothing had happened.

pretend

1. to behave in a particular way, in order to make other people believe something that is not true
• I'm tired of having to pretend all the time.
• Of course I was wrong; it would be hypocritical to pretend otherwise.
• He pretended to his family that everything was fine.
• We pretended (that) nothing had happened.
• She pretended (that) she was his niece.
• He pretended not to notice.
• I pretended to be asleep.
• She didn't love him, though she pretended to.
• She pretended an interest she did not feel.
2. to imagine that something is true as part of a game
• They didn't have any real money so they had to pretend.
• Let’s pretend (that) we’re astronauts.
3. to claim to be, do or have something, especially when this is not true
• I can't pretend to any great musical talent.
• I don’t pretend (that) I know much about the subject, but…
• The book doesn't pretend to be a great work of literature.

Extra Examples

• Couldn’t you at least pretend to enjoy it?
• He pretended to his boss that he’d written the article.
• I can’t go on pretending any longer.
• It would be foolish to pretend that there are no risks involved.
• It’s useless to pretend that we might still win.
• Let’s pretend it never happened.
• Maria knew he was only pretending.
• They decided to just pretend it never happened.
• You know what this is all about, Natasha. Why pretend otherwise?
• I’m tired of having to pretend all the time.
• Let’s pretend (that) we’re astronauts.
• Of course it was wrong; it would be hypocriticial to pretend otherwise.
• They didn’t have any real money so they had to pretend.
• Why hurt her by pretending an interest he did not feel?

Verb Forms

• present simple I / you / we / they pretend
• he / she / it pretends
• past simple pretended
• past participle pretended
• -ing form pretending

Word Origin

• late Middle English: from Latin praetendere ‘stretch forth, claim’, from prae ‘before’ + tendere ‘stretch’. The adjective dates from the early 20th cent.