låtsas

Låtsas is a Swedish verb meaning to pretend, feign, or simulate. The action involves presenting something as real or true when it is not, or adopting a state or role temporarily. It is commonly used in everyday speech, literature, and media. Examples include “Hon låtsas att hon är sjuk” (She pretends she is ill) and “Han låtsas vara äldre” (He pretends to be older). The concept is also central in discussions of children’s play, where “låtsaslek” describes pretend play in which children assume roles and imagine scenarios.

Grammatical information: låtsas is a regular verb. Present tense is låtsas, past tense is låtsades, and the supine form is låtsats. The perfect participle is låtsats, used in compound tenses such as “har låtsats.” The verb can govern clauses introduced by att, as in “låtsas att …,” or be followed by constructions like “som …” to indicate appearance or resemblance.

Usage notes: The notion of pretending ranges from harmless play and storytelling to deceit in social contexts. In everyday language, låtsas is neutral enough to describe both innocent imaginative activity (for example in storytelling or role-playing) and deliberate deception, depending on context and intonation. The term also appears in phrases relating to imagined or simulated realities in media and fiction.

See also: pretend play, deception, fiction, storytelling.