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"to pretend (make believe)" in seven languages

Meaningto pretend (make believe)

Spanish

fingir

/finˈxiɾ/

learned

French

faire semblant

/fɛʁ sɑ̃blɑ̃/

other source · faire 'to make' + semblant 'appearance' (sembler, Latin SIMULĀRE)

Feindre, the inherited descendant of FINGERE, exists but is more literary.

Italian

fingere

/ˈfindʒere/

inherited

Far finta (di) is the everyday colloquial equivalent.

Portuguese

fingir

/fĩˈʒih/

learned

Romanian

preface

/preˈfatʃe/

other source · pre- + face 'to make' (Latin FACERE)

Reflexive in this sense: se preface că doarme 'he pretends to sleep'.

Catalan

fer veure

/fe ˈbɛwɾə/

other source · fer 'to make' (Latin FACERE) + veure 'to see' (Latin VIDĒRE)

Literally 'make (it) seem'; fingir exists too.

English

pretend

/pɹɪˈtɛnd/

other source · Latin PRAETENDERE 'to hold out in front'

English → Italianto pretend (make believe)fingereNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: feign, fiction, figment.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

FINGERE‘to shape, mould; to invent’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Beware the false friends: Spanish pretender means 'to aim, intend' and French prétendre 'to claim'. The real equivalents come from FINGERE 'to mould', the root of English fiction and feign.

English relatives: feign, fiction, figment

Sound laws at work

French vowel + nasal becomes a nasal vowel

Learn it

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In a sentence

  • esFingió no verme.
  • frIl a fait semblant de ne pas me voir.
  • itHa finto di non vedermi.
  • ptEle fingiu não me ver.
  • roS-a prefăcut că nu mă vede.
  • caVa fer veure que no em veia.
  • enHe pretended not to see me.

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words