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# pretending

«pretending» in Mova's school dictionary: **true when it is not, often in a game: pretending to be a…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (present participle of pretend: pretend, pretends, pretended, pretending); noun (pretending, uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Pretending means acting as if something is true when it is not, often in a game: pretending to be a dragon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretending/#m1)

2) Pretending can also mean trying to trick people by acting falsely: pretending to be ill. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretending/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In play and stories, pretending is imagination: pretend play, make-believe, role play in drama lessons. In safety lessons, some people online pretend to be someone else (for example, a child), so never share personal details. In feelings lessons: pretending to be fine when you are not; it is OK to tell a trusted adult. Phrases: pretending to, pretending that, stop pretending.

### examples

- We are pretending to be pirates. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretending/#x1)
- He was pretending to be asleep. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretending/#x2)
- She is pretending that the box is a car. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretending/#x3)
- Stop pretending you did not see me! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretending/#x4)
- The cat is pretending not to care. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretending/#x5)
- People online may be pretending to be kids. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretending/#x6)
- I was pretending to be brave, but I was scared. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretending/#x7)
- Pretending games help you use your imagination. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretending/#x8)
- “He-he-he!” exclaimed Iktomi, pretending disappointment that his friend had fallen. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretending/#x9)

### note

After pretend: «pretending to be», «pretending that…». False friend: in some languages a similar word means «to claim» or «to aim for», but in English pretend means to act as if. Pretending in a game is fine; pretending to trick or hurt someone is lying.

### In the corpora

- [When a bot pretends to be a pirate or a footballer, it is still pretending; quotes it invents were never really said.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/5-hallucinations-confident-made-up-answers/13/)
- [That is not a disaster; pretending is.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/29-who-you-are-being-wrong-and-learning/1/)
- [A message pretending to be a bank is a scam that can make real people lose money, so you refuse to write one.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/29-who-you-are-being-wrong-and-learning/15/)
- [For an hour or two they stumble on, pretending every tree is an old friend, falling into holes, soaked and bruised.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/35-willows-ch3-part3-snow-in-the-wild-wood/13/)
- [Lonely children are sometimes targeted online by adults pretending to be friends.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/94-frustration-loneliness-and-siblings/22/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «pretending» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pretending/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.