pretend – English verb conjugation

English verb forms of pretend

Nominal Forms

Infinitive: to pretend
Participle: pretended
Gerund: pretending

Cognates

-

Indicative

Present

Ipretend
youpretend
he;she;itpretends
wepretend
youpretend
theypretend

Perfect

Ihave pretended
youhave pretended
he;she;ithas pretended
wehave pretended
youhave pretended
theyhave pretended

Past

Ipretended
youpretended
he;she;itpretended
wepretended
youpretended
theypretended

Pluperfect

Ihad pretended
youhad pretended
he;she;ithad pretended
wehad pretended
youhad pretended
theyhad pretended

Future

Iwill pretend
youwill pretend
he;she;itwill pretend
wewill pretend
youwill pretend
theywill pretend

Future Perfect

Iwill have pretended
youwill have pretended
he;she;itwill have pretended
wewill have pretended
youwill have pretended
theywill have pretended

Subjunctive

Present

Ipretend
youpretend
he;she;itpretend
wepretend
youpretend
theypretend

Perfect

Ihave pretended
youhave pretended
he;she;ithave pretended
wehave pretended
youhave pretended
theyhave pretended

Imperfect

Ipretended
youpretended
he;she;itpretended
wepretended
youpretended
theypretended

Pluperfect

Ihad pretended
youhad pretended
he;she;ithad pretended
wehad pretended
youhad pretended
theyhad pretended

Conditional

Present

Iwould pretend
youwould pretend
he;she;itwould pretend
wewould pretend
youwould pretend
theywould pretend

Perfect

Iwould have pretended
youwould have pretended
he;she;itwould have pretended
wewould have pretended
youwould have pretended
theywould have pretended

Imperative

youpretend
weLet's pretend
youpretend

Progressive (Continuous) Forms

Indicative

Present

Iam pretending
youare pretending
he;she;itis pretending
weare pretending
youare pretending
theyare pretending

Perfect

Ihave been pretending
youhave been pretending
he;she;ithas been pretending
wehave been pretending
youhave been pretending
theyhave been pretending

Past

Iwas pretending
youwere pretending
he;she;itwas pretending
wewere pretending
youwere pretending
theywere pretending

Pluperfect

Ihad been pretending
youhad been pretending
he;she;ithad been pretending
wehad been pretending
youhad been pretending
theyhad been pretending

Future

Iwill be pretending
youwill be pretending
he;she;itwill be pretending
wewill be pretending
youwill be pretending
theywill be pretending

Future Perfect

Iwill have been pretending
youwill have been pretending
he;she;itwill have been pretending
wewill have been pretending
youwill have been pretending
theywill have been pretending

Conditional

Present

Iwould be pretending
youwould be pretending
he;she;itwould be pretending
wewould be pretending
youwould be pretending
theywould be pretending

Perfect

Iwould have been pretending
youwould have been pretending
he;she;itwould have been pretending
wewould have been pretending
youwould have been pretending
theywould have been pretending

Other

Verbs conjugated like 'pretend'

abandon, abduct, abear, aberr, abject, abord, abort, abound, abraid, abray, abrook, abscind, abscond, absist, absorb, abstain, abstract, accend, accent, accept, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

feign
affect, mislead, assume, beguile, counterfeit, delude, fake, dupe
mimic
represent, portray, impersonate, imitate

Additional Information

Phrasal Verbs

Etymology

1. c.1380, "to profess or claim," from O.Fr. pretendre "to lay claim," from L. prætendere "stretch in front, put forward, allege," from præ- "before" + tendere "to stretch," from PIE base *ten- "to stretch" (see tend). Main modern sense of "feign, put forward a false claim" is recorded from 1412; the older sense of simply "to claim" is behind the string of royal pretenders (1697) in Eng. history. Meaning "to play, make believe" is recorded from 1865.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *per-
4. Proto-Indo-European *preh₂-
5. Proto-Indo-European *-i
6. Proto-Indo-European *préh₂i?
7. Proto-Italic *prai
8. Proto-Italic *prai-
9. Latin prae-
10. Proto-Indo-European *ten-
11. Proto-Indo-European *tend-
12. Proto-Indo-European *-eti
13. Proto-Indo-European *téndeti
14. Proto-Italic *tendō
15. Latin tendō
16. Latin praetendōbor.
17. Anglo-Norman pretendreder.
18. English pretend
19. 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. See: Anglo-Norman 'pretendre', French 'prétendre', Latin 'praetendo'.

Verbs referencing "pretend"

Esperanto pretendi.

Sample Sentences

  • [...] after another, and rendered it quite a distracting circumstance to follow her proceedings, and to find that every nook and corner and individual piece of furniture was something else besides what it pretended to be, and was a mere trap and deception and place of secret stowage, whose ostensible purpose was its least useful one. (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • ‘She one day pretended that her doll was sick; and went through all the motions of tending it, and giving it medicine; she then put it carefully to bed, and placed a bottle of hot water to its feet, laughing all the time [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • “ I 'm sorry you feel so about it,—indeed I am, ” said Mr. Shelby; “ and I respect your feelings, too, though I don't pretend to share them to their full extent; but I tell you now, solemnly, it's of no use—I can't help myself. I didn't mean to tell you this Emily; but, in plain words, there is no choice between selling [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] are amiability and mildness their characteristics, that I confess I look upon that youth who distinguished himself by the slaughter of these inoffensive persons, as a false-hearted brigand, who, pretending to philanthropic motives, was secretly influenced only by the wealth stored up within their castles, and the hope of plunder. And I lean the more to this opinion from finding that even the [...] (American Notes for General Circulation)
  • “ Humbug ! We are not quite reduced to that yet. Alfred who is as determined a despot as ever walked, does not pretend to this kind of defence; — no, he stands, high and haughty, on that good old respectable ground, _the right of the strongest_; and he says, and I think quite sensibly, that the American planter is [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • “It’s only the morality of the Bible, Mr. Shelby.” “ Well, well, Emily, I don't pretend to interfere with your religious notions; only they seem extremely unfitted for people in that condition. ” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • St. Clare had never pretended to govern himself by any religious obligation; and a certain fineness of nature gave him such an instinctive view of the extent of the requirements of Christianity, that he shrank, by anticipation, [...] (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • [...] do with thinking what's right ? I'll put a stop to it ! Why, what do ye think ye are ? May be ye think ye’r a gentleman master, Tom, to be a telling your master what's right, and what ain't ! So you pretend it's wrong to flog the gal ! ” (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)
  • They washed his wounds,—they provided a rude bed, of some refuse cotton, for him to lie down on; and one of them, stealing up to the house, begged a drink of brandy of Legree, pretending that he was tired, and wanted it for himself. He brought it back, and poured it down Tom's throat. (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)