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# pretend

verb (pretend, pretends, pretended, pretending); adjective (pretend — informal, children's: pretend money)

«pretend» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. To act as if something is true when it is not, for fun or to trick someone. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretend/#m1)
2. To play a make-believe game: «Let's pretend we're pirates». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretend/#m2)
3. Adjective (informal): not real, make-believe: a pretend shop. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretend/#m3)

### In the lessons

In play: pretend play (role-play) helps imagination — playing house, shop, superheroes. In truth lessons: pretending to be ill to miss school is lying; tricky people online may pretend to be children. In stories: characters pretend to fool someone (the wolf pretended to be Grandma). Phrases: pretend to be, pretend that, let's pretend, pretend play, pretend not to notice.

### Examples

- Let's pretend we're astronauts. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretend/#x1)
- The wolf pretended to be Grandma. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretend/#x2)
- He pretended to be asleep. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretend/#x3)
- We played with pretend money in our shop. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretend/#x4)
- Don't pretend you didn't see it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretend/#x5)
- Someone online might pretend to be a child — be careful. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretend/#x6)
- She pretended not to hear. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretend/#x7)
- Possums pretend to be dead when they're scared. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretend/#x8)
- Then she pretended to be asleep again. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretend/#x9)

### Note

Regular verb: pretended. «Pretend to do» or «pretend that…». Pretending in a game is fun; pretending to fool someone in a harmful way is lying. A false friend in some languages: «pretend» in English does not mean «claim a right» or «expect».

## In Jewish tradition

In play: pretend play (role-play) helps imagination — playing house, shop, superheroes. In truth lessons: pretending to be ill to miss school is lying; tricky people online may pretend to be children. In stories: characters pretend to fool someone (the wolf pretended to be Grandma). Phrases: pretend to be, pretend that, let's pretend, pretend play, pretend not to notice.

### Examples

- I do not pretend to be able to solve this difficult question. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/pretend/#x1)

### Note

Regular verb: pretended. «Pretend to do» or «pretend that…». Pretending in a game is fun; pretending to fool someone in a harmful way is lying. A false friend in some languages: «pretend» in English does not mean «claim a right» or «expect».

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «pretend» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretend/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«pretend» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/pretend.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «pretend» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/pretend/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«pretend» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/pretend.html) on Mova free.