fingir Preterite Conjugation
fingir — to pretend
The preterite of fingir is mostly regular, but watch for the spelling change in the third person: fingió and fingieron.
fingir Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when someone faked an emotion or pretended to be something at a specific, completed moment in the past.
Notes on fingir in the Preterite
Fingir follows the standard -ir preterite endings. However, in the third person (él/ellos), the 'i' in the ending becomes a 'io/ieron' sound, but the stem 'fing-' remains stable.
Example Sentences
Él fingió que no me vio en la calle.
He pretended he didn't see me on the street.
él/ella/usted
Fingí estar dormido cuando entró mi mamá.
I pretended to be asleep when my mom came in.
yo
Ellos fingieron sorpresa aunque ya lo sabían.
They pretended to be surprised even though they already knew.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'finjió' with a 'j'.
Correct: fingió
Why: The 'g' only changes to 'j' when followed by 'a' or 'o'. Since 'i' follows the 'g' here, the 'g' is kept.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: finjo
The present tense of fingir is regular except for the 'yo' form, which changes to 'finjo' to keep the sound right.
Imperfect
yo: fingía
The imperfect of fingir is entirely regular: fingía, fingías, fingía, fingíamos, fingíais, fingían.
Future
yo: fingiré
The future tense of fingir is completely regular: fingiré, fingirás, fingirá, fingiremos, fingiréis, fingirán.
Conditional
yo: fingiría
The conditional of fingir is regular: fingiría, fingirías, fingiría, fingiríamos, fingiríais, fingirían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: finja
The present subjunctive of fingir uses a 'j' in all forms: finja, finjas, finja, finjamos, finjáis, finjan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: fingiera
The imperfect subjunctive of fingir is built from the third-person preterite: fingiera, fingieras, fingiera, fingiéramos, fingierais, fingieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: finge
The imperative of fingir tells someone to pretend: finge (tú), finja (usted), finjamos (nosotros), fingid (vosotros), finjan (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no finjas
The negative imperative of fingir always uses the 'j' spelling: no finjas, no finja, no finjamos, no finjáis, no finjan.