What's An Amigo Falso or False Friend in Spanish?

In case you don’t know what an “amigo falso” is let me tell you.

Here’s one that often tricks native English speakers. What do you think the Spanish word “pretender” means???

No, “pretender” does NOT mean “to pretend.”

The Spanish verb “pretender” means to aspire or to try to obtain something. And the Spanish word “fingir” means the English phrase “to pretend.”

Here’s an example using “pretender”:

Mis estudiantes siempre pretenden obtener calificaciones altas, por eso estudian mucho.
(My students always aspire to obtain good grades, and for that reason they study a lot.)

DISCLAIMER: I own several Spanish or Spanish-English “diccionarios.” Only one of my “diccionarios” is from the U.S. And that one says that “pretender” can also mean the English phrase “to pretend.”

What's An Amigo Falso or False Friend in Spanish?

But in my Spanish and Spanish-English dictionaries from Colombia none of them have the meaning “to pretend” (or the equivalent) for the word “pretender.” And I have never heard “pretender” used to mean “to pretend” here in Colombia.

My guess is that that my Spanish-English “diccionario” that I bought in the States has also been
“infiltrado” (infiltrated) by American English.

How To Say To Pretend In Spanish

Ella fingió que le gustaba el regalo.
She pretended as if she liked the gift.

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