Upon seeing the -ERE verb pretendere in Italian, you would be forgiven for assuming that it means “to pretend”. In actual fact, pretendere is a classic example of a false friend, or a word that looks or sounds similar to a word in another language but has a different meaning.
In Italian, pretendere tends to be used whenever we would use the verbs “to expect” or “to demand” in English. For example:
Non pretendo che tu mi accompagni ogni volta.
I don’t expect you to come with me every time.
Pretendo di sapere con chi eri ieri sera!
I demand to know who you were with last night!
It can also be followed directly by a noun or adverb, as in the phrases pretendo rispetto (I demand respect) or pretendi troppo (you expect too much).
In some cases, it can also translate as “to insist” or “to claim” as in the following phrase:
Perché pretendi di avere ragione?
Why do you insist on being / claim to be right?
Another possible meaning for “to pretend” in English is “to lay claim to (a title or quality)” and this is where we start to see some overlap between the two languages, given that pretendere can have this meaning as well. This is due to the fact that both verbs ultimately derive from Latin praetendere meaning “to stretch forth, to claim”. For example, you can say “to pretend / aspire to the throne” or pretendere alla corona.
Some further overlap can be seen when pretendere translates as “to pretend” with the meaning of “to presume”.
Non posso pretendere di sapere cosa stai passando.
I can’t pretend / presume to know what you’re going through.
Because pretendere is an -ERE verb, it is conjugated in the present tense in the following manner:
- io pretendo = I expect
- tu pretendi = you expect (informal)
- lui / lei pretende = he / she expects
- Lei pretende = you expect (formal)
- noi pretendiamo = we expect
- voi pretendete = you expect (plural)
- loro pretendono = they expect
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
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