student asking question

What does "pretend" mean here?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

"Pretend" means to behave as if something is true when you know it is not, in order to deceive people or as a game. In this clip "pretend" is being used to say that she would probably prefer to behave as though the dinosaurs were just numbers on a sheet of paper, meaning a way to make money than to face the fact that they are real and have needs. He is suggesting that doing this would be a way of deceiving herself and making her job easier. Ex: Why don't you pretend like I don't even exist? Ex: Let's pretend that didn't happen. Ex: Don't pretend like you can't see me.

Popular Q&As

03/29

Complete the expression with a quiz!