Skip to content

fingir

to pretend

verb feen-HEER Rare

Also means

to feign

Usage Note

Fingir means to pretend or feign something — fingir dormir (to pretend to be asleep), fingir sorpresa (to feign surprise). It is a regular -ir verb except for a spelling change: the 'g' becomes 'j' before 'o' or 'a' to preserve the soft /h/ sound: finjo, finjas. It should not be confused with pretender, which in Spanish means 'to intend' or 'to claim,' not 'to pretend' — a classic false friend.

Examples

"Fingió estar dormido cuando llegué."

Natural Translation

He pretended to be asleep when I arrived.

Explore Spanish by topic