feigniez

Feigniez is the second-person plural inflection of the French verb feindre, appearing in two grammatical moods: the imperfect indicative (vous feigniez) and the present subjunctive (que vous feigniez). It is a verb form rather than a standalone word, used when addressing more than one person.

Etymology and related forms: Feindre comes from Old French feindre, which itself derives from the Latin fingere, meaning to shape, form, or pretend. The verb belongs to the third conjugation in French. Other principal forms include je feins, tu feins, il feint, nous feignons, vous feignez, ils feignent, with the past participle feint or feinté in certain tenses. The present participle is feignant.

Usage and grammar: Feigniez functions as a past-progressive form in the imperfect indicative and as a mood-marking form in the present subjunctive. In everyday speech, the imperfect sense appears in narrative about past pretenses, as in vous feigniez l’intérêt. The present subjunctive form is used in dependent clauses after expressions requiring the subjunctive, such as Il faut que vous feigniez la surprise, meaning it is necessary that you feign surprise. The distinction between feindre and feignir is historical; in modern French, feindre remains the standard verb for “to feign” or “to pretend.”

Examples: Vous feigniez l’ignorance pour éviter la question. (You were feigning ignorance to avoid the question.) Il faut que vous feigniez l’étonnement. (You must feign surprise.)

See also: feindre, its other conjugations, past participle feint/feinte. Feindre is commonly used in literature and formal writing to describe pretenses, deception, or simulations.