pretending

The word “pretending” means the act of imagining or acting out something that isn't real; make-believe. In plain terms, the noun form of pretend — imaginative play or faking something.

Here is “pretending” used in a sentence: “The whole afternoon was spent pretending — knights, dragons, the lot.”

“Pretending” is a noun.

“Pretending” is a fairly common word in modern English.

Pretending is imagining or acting out something that isn't real, and it is often playful or openly understood as make-believe, as when children pretend to be pirates. Lying is stating something false with the intent to deceive. Pretending becomes deceptive only when it is meant to make others believe the act is real.

Acting is performance within an agreed fiction, such as a play or film, where everyone knows the roles are not real. Pretending is the broader, everyday word for behaving as if something were true, whether in children's games or in feigning an emotion. All acting involves pretending, but most pretending is not acting.

Essentially yes: make-believe is the act of imagining or acting out things that aren't real, and it is the word most often used for children's imaginative play. Pretending covers the same idea but applies more widely, including adult situations like pretending not to hear a question.

The verb pretend takes a to-infinitive: 'she pretended to be asleep,' not 'she pretended being asleep.' The same pattern holds across meanings — pretend to know, pretend to care — making 'pretend + to + verb' the standard construction.