to pretend — English conjugation

Frequency#866Regular

Indicative

Present (Simple Present) Regular

The simple present describes habitual actions, general truths, and states. It is the most basic tense in English. For most verbs, add -s or -es for the third person singular (he, she, it).

She speaks three languages.

PronounEnglish
Ipretend
youpretend
he/she/itpretends
wepretend
you (pl.)pretend
theypretend

Past (Simple Past) Regular

The simple past describes completed actions at a specific time in the past. Regular verbs add -ed. There are around 200 common irregular verbs with unique past forms that must be learned individually.

She spoke to the manager yesterday.

PronounEnglish
Ipretended
youpretended
he/she/itpretended
wepretended
you (pl.)pretended
theypretended

Present continuous (Present Continuous) Regular

The present continuous describes actions happening right now or temporary situations. Formed with am/is/are + verb-ing. Also used for definite future arrangements.

She is speaking to a client at the moment.

PronounEnglish
Iam pretending
youare pretending
he/she/itis pretending
weare pretending
you (pl.)are pretending
theyare pretending

Past continuous (Past Continuous) Regular

The past continuous describes actions that were in progress at a specific moment in the past, often interrupted by another event. Formed with was/were + verb-ing.

She was speaking when the fire alarm went off.

PronounEnglish
Iwas pretending
youwere pretending
he/she/itwas pretending
wewere pretending
you (pl.)were pretending
theywere pretending

Present perfect (Present Perfect) Regular

The present perfect connects the past to the present. It describes experiences, recent events, or situations that started in the past and continue now. Formed with have/has + past participle.

She has spoken at over fifty conferences.

PronounEnglish
Ihave pretended
youhave pretended
he/she/ithas pretended
wehave pretended
you (pl.)have pretended
theyhave pretended

Past perfect (Past Perfect) Regular

The past perfect describes an action completed before another past event — the past of the past. Formed with had + past participle. Always implies a reference point in the past.

She had spoken to him before the meeting started.

PronounEnglish
Ihad pretended
youhad pretended
he/she/ithad pretended
wehad pretended
you (pl.)had pretended
theyhad pretended

Future (will) (Future Simple) Regular

The future simple expresses predictions, spontaneous decisions, and promises. Formed with will + base infinitive. The contracted form will not = won't is very common in spoken English.

She will speak at the conference tomorrow.

PronounEnglish
Iwill pretend
youwill pretend
he/she/itwill pretend
wewill pretend
you (pl.)will pretend
theywill pretend

Future continuous (Future Continuous) Regular

The future continuous describes an action that will be in progress at a specific future moment. Formed with will be + verb-ing. Often used to describe planned or expected ongoing actions.

This time tomorrow she will be speaking to the board.

PronounEnglish
Iwill be pretending
youwill be pretending
he/she/itwill be pretending
wewill be pretending
you (pl.)will be pretending
theywill be pretending

Future perfect (Future Perfect) Regular

The future perfect describes an action that will be completed before a specific point in the future. Formed with will have + past participle. Common with time expressions like by then, by the time.

By Friday she will have spoken to all the clients.

PronounEnglish
Iwill have pretended
youwill have pretended
he/she/itwill have pretended
wewill have pretended
you (pl.)will have pretended
theywill have pretended

Subjunctive

Conditional (would) (Conditional) Regular

The conditional describes hypothetical situations and their results. Formed with would + base infinitive. Used in if-clauses, polite requests, and reported speech about future events.

She would speak more if she had the chance.

PronounEnglish
Iwould pretend
youwould pretend
he/she/itwould pretend
wewould pretend
you (pl.)would pretend
theywould pretend