Pretendía

Pretendía is the imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb pretender. The verb has two main senses in modern Spanish: to intend or to aim for something, and to feign or pretend. In the imperfect tense, pretender expresses a past action or state that was ongoing, habitual, or not completed, or a past intention or feigning.

Conjugation and formation: Pretender is a regular -er verb in the imperfect. The forms are: yo pretendía, tú pretendías, él/ella/usted pretendía, nosotros pretendíamos, vosotros pretendíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes pretendían. The form pretendía can refer to either yo or él/ella/usted as the subject, depending on context. Related forms include the gerund pretendiendo and the past participle pretendido. The noun related to the sense of aim or claim is pretensión.

Usage notes: As a past tense form, pretendía can indicate someone’s ongoing or habitual intention in the past (e.g., “Cuando era joven, pretendía ser médico”) or ongoing feigning (e.g., “Ella pretendía estar enferma”). The choice of meaning is determined by context and accompanying words. In narrative or reported speech, pretender may introduce reported statements about what someone intended or claimed to do (e.g., “Dijo que pretendía reducir gastos”).

Etymology: Pretender derives from the Latin praetendere, meaning to stretch forth or to hold forth, and has developed into senses related to claiming, aiming, or feigning in Spanish.

See also: Pretender (verb) and pretensión.