pretender

v.

1 to claim.

Ella pretende la casa y el auto She claims the house and the car.

2 to apply for.

3 to court.

4 to want, to seek, to go after, to aspire to obtain.

Ella pretendió una hazaña peligrosa She attempted a dangerous feat.

5 to want to, to intend to, to mean to, to try to.

Ella pretende viajar en la tormenta She intends to travel in the storm.

6 to intend to marry, to court, to pay court to.

Ricardo pretende a María Richard intends to marry Mary.

7 to be intended to, to be meant to, to be needed to.

8 to feign, to pretend, to purport, to sham.

Ella pretende un desmayo She feigns a fainting spell.

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pretender

► verbo transitivo

1 (querer) to want to

■ pretende ganar el concurso he wants to win the contest

2 (intentar) to try to

■ no sé qué pretende hacer I don't know what he's trying to do

3 (cortejar) to court

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verb

1) to attempt

2) seek

3) claim

4) intend

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VT

1) (=aspirar a)

¿qué pretende usted? — what are you after?, what do you hope to achieve?

pretender el trono — to pretend to the throne

• pretender hacer algo, pretendió convencerme — he tried to convince me

pretendo sacar algo de provecho — I intend to get something out of it

¿qué pretende usted decir con eso? — what do you mean by that?

no pretendo ser rico — I've no aspirations to be rich

pretende llegar a ser médico — she hopes to become a doctor

pretender que — + subjun to expect that ...

¡no pretenderás que te pague la comida! — you're not expecting me to pay for your meal, are you?

2) frm (=afirmar) to claim

pretende que el coche le atropelló adrede — he claims that the car deliberately knocked him down

3) † (=cortejar) to woo, court

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verbo transitivo

1)

a) (intentar, aspirar)

¿qué pretendes con esa actitud? — what do you hope to gain with that attitude?

¿qué pretendes de mí? — what do you expect of me?

pretender + INF — to try to + inf

no pretenderás hacerlo tú sola — you're not going to try to do it alone, are you?

pretendía hacerme cambiar de opinión — she was trying to make me change my mind

¿qué pretendes decir con eso? — what are you trying to say?, what are you getting at?

b) (esperar)

¿pretendes que te crea? — do you expect me to believe you?

2) (ant) <mujer> to woo (dated)

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verbo transitivo

1)

a) (intentar, aspirar)

¿qué pretendes con esa actitud? — what do you hope to gain with that attitude?

¿qué pretendes de mí? — what do you expect of me?

pretender + INF — to try to + inf

no pretenderás hacerlo tú sola — you're not going to try to do it alone, are you?

pretendía hacerme cambiar de opinión — she was trying to make me change my mind

¿qué pretendes decir con eso? — what are you trying to say?, what are you getting at?

b) (esperar)

¿pretendes que te crea? — do you expect me to believe you?

2) (ant) <mujer> to woo (dated)

* * *

pretender¹

¹ = intend, make + pretence, purport, be out to + Verbo, lay + claim(s) to, look to.

Ex: The scheme is intended to provide a systematic approach to the arrangement of books on shelves.

Ex: This account makes no pretence of being comprehensive and for a through treatment of these areas other texts should be consulted.

Ex: The LA purports to act as a professional body, but some of its bye-laws are the very antithesis of professionalism.

Ex: Clearly the cataloguer is out to produce a description in a standard order.

Ex: If librarians would calmly and publicly and increasingly lay claim to this area as their professional domain, they would gradually bring about the change in attitude that many desire to see.

Ex: Those with more faith than I look to gigantic electronic archives maintained by governments and private companies that will ensure the indefinite survival of the electronic records of humankind.

* no pretender ser = make + no claim to.

* pretender hacer = try.

* pretender lograr lo imposible = square + the circle.

* pretender lo imposible = square + the circle.

pretender²

² = pretend, feign.

Ex: We do not pretend to have equipped you with an instant expertise in the subject analysis and classification of documents.

Ex: 'You're sure you know what to do?' 'I'm sure,' she replied, with a confidence still slightly feigned = "¿Estás segura de que sabes qué hacer?" "Estoy segura", respondió con una seguridad todavía ligeramente fingida.

* pretender + poseer = claim.

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pretender [E1 ]

vt

A

(intentar, aspirar): ¿qué pretendes con esa actitud? what do you hope to gain with that attitude?

¿pero qué pretendes? ¿que haga yo tu trabajo? are you trying to get me to do your work, or what?, what are you after? you want me to do your work? (colloq)

¿qué pretendes de mí? what do you expect of me?, what do you expect me to do?

pretender + INF to try to + INF

no pretenderás hacerlo tú sola you're not going to try to do it o try and do it alone

pretendía hacerme cambiar de opinión her intention was to make me change my mind, she was trying to o (colloq) she was out to make me change my mind

¿qué pretendes decir con eso? what do you mean by that?, what are you trying to say?, what are you getting at?

pretende engañarme con sus mentiras he's trying to fool me with his lies

con la campaña se pretende llamar la atención sobre el problema it is hoped that the campaign will draw attention to the problem

pretender QUE + SUBJ:

¿pretendes que crea esa mentira? do you expect me to believe such a lie?

si pretendes que te aprueben porque eres mi hijo, estás muy equivocado if you expect them to pass you o if you're hoping they'll pass you because you're my son, you're badly mistaken

sólo pretendo que sea feliz I just want her to be happy

B (ant); ‹mujer› to woo (dated)

la pretenden varios hombres several men are wooing her o are trying to win her hand (dated)

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pretender (conjugate pretender) verbo transitivo:

◊ ¿qué pretendes con esa actitud? what do you hope to gain with that attitude?;

pretendía entrar sin pagar he was trying to get in without paying;
no pretendo saberlo todo I don't claim to know everything;
lo único que pretendía era ayudar I was only trying to help;
¿pretendes que te crea? do you expect me to believe you?
pretender verbo transitivo
1 (aspirar, intentar) to expect, try to: pretendía que le diera la razón, he was trying to make me agree with him
pretende ser actriz, she hopes to become an actress
2 (simular) to try: pretendió no habernos visto, he pretended he hadn't seen us
3 frml (cortejar) to woo, court

'pretender' also found in these entries:
Spanish:
pretendienta
- pretendiente
- aspirar
English:
aim at
- allege
- make out
- pretend
- pretender
- purport

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pretender vt

1. [intentar, aspirar a]

sólo pretendo ayudarte I just want to help you;

pretendo comprarme una casa I'm hoping to buy a house;

pretende llegar a presidente he aims to become president;

no sé qué pretende con esa actitud I don't know what he hopes to achieve with that attitude;

¿pretendes que te crea? do you expect me to believe you?;

¿qué pretendes decir? what do you mean?;

¿no pretenderás que te deje el dinero? you don't really expect me to lend you the money, do you?

2. [simular] to pretend;

pretende estar estudiando he pretends he's studying

3. [afirmar] to claim

4. [cortejar] to court

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pretender

v/t

:

pretender hacer algo try to do sth

* * *

pretender vt

1) intentar: to attempt, to try

pretendo estudiar: I'm trying to study

2) afirmar: to claim

pretende ser pobre: he claims he's poor

3) : to seek, to aspire to

¿qué pretendes tú?: what are you after?

4) cortejar: to court

5)

pretender que : to expect

¿pretendes que lo crea?: do you expect me to believe you?

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pretender vb

1. (querer) to want

¿quién es usted? ¿qué pretende? who are you? what do you want?

nunca pretendí hacerte daño I never wanted to hurt you

2. (intentar) to try [pt. & pp. tried]

los obreros pretendían obtener un aumento de salario the workers were trying to get a wage increase