nepretvára

Nepretvára is a Slovenian verb form described in linguistic notes as the negated present tense of the verb pretvarjati, which carries senses related to transforming or to pretending (the latter when used with the reflexive se). The form is created by adding the negation particle ne- to the finite stem pretvar- and applying standard present-tense endings. In modern Slovenian, the common negated present forms are nepretvarja (he/she does not transform) and nepretvarjam (I do not transform). The reflexive sense, as in pretvarjati se (to pretend), yields forms like se ne pretvarja. The diacritic variant nepretvára appears in some dialectal spellings or linguistic transcriptions to indicate stress, but it is not the standard spelling.

Usage and meaning vary with sense. With pretvarjati meaning to transform, nepretvara signals absence of transformation. With pretvarjati se meaning to pretend, the negated form can appear in constructions such as se ne pretvarja, meaning “does not pretend.” In ordinary prose, Slovenian typically uses the standard nepretvarja or se ne pretvarja without the special diacritic.

Etymology and related forms: nep- + pretvarjati, with ne- as the primary negation prefix in Slavic languages. Related terms include pretvarjanje (transformation, conversion) and pretvarjati (to transform, to pretend).

See also: pretvarjati, pretvarjanje, negation in Slovenian, Slovenian verb conjugation.