Structure
Verb[ている](1) + ふりをする
[い]Adjective + ふりをする
[な]Adjective + な + ふりをする
Noun + の + ふりをする
(1) Verb[ない]、Verb[た]
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Standard
使用域
一般
About ふりをする
ふりをする is an expression in Japanese that is used to show that someone is 'pretending to be (A)', 'putting on airs of (A)', or 'acting as if (A)'. This construction comes from a combination of the noun 振り 'a shake', the adverbial particle を, and する. It can be thought of as meaning 'to give off the impression of (A)', or 'to shake off the impression of (A)'.
As ふり itself is a noun, this expression may be used with the attributive form of any other word.
As ふり itself is a noun, this expression may be used with the attributive form of any other word.
- この蛇は人等大きな動物が近づくと死んだ振りをするらしい。I heard that this snake pretends to be dead when humans and bigger animals approach it.
- 僕は子供の頃、よく寝ている振りをした。When I was a child, I would often pretend to sleep.
- 欲しいのはこれではなかったけど、せっかく買ってくれたから嬉しい振りをする。This is not what I wanted, but since they went out of their way and bought it for me, I will pretend that I am happy.
- 俺の前ではそんな、元気な振りをしなくていいよ。You don't have to pretend that you are happy in front of me.
- カケル君はカエルが好きだからいつもカエルの振りをして遊んでいる。Because Kakeru-kun likes frogs, he always pretends to be a frog when he plays.
Fun Fact
The noun 振り has several different nuances in Japanese, with only one of them being used in this particular expression. That meaning is 'to show a certain behavior pattern on the outside'. Due to this, ふり doesn't specifically mean 'to pretend', just that what is happening on the outside may be different to what is happening within a person (either mentally or physically).Synonyms
Examples
私の犬は寝たふりをすることがある。
There are times when my dog pretends to sleep.
子供は、注意された時に、聞こえないふりをした。
The child pretended not to hear while she was being scolded.
どんなことについても知っているふりをする人は信頼ができない。
I don't trust people who act as if they know everything.
病気のふりをして会社を休んだ。
Pretending to be sick, I took the day off work.
熊に遭遇した時、死んだふりをしてもあまり意味がないと聞いた。
I have heard that when you encounter a bear, even if you pretend to be dead, it won't make much difference.
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ふりをする – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (9 in total)
Pushindawood
@Aythreuk I have updated both the Verb[た] grammar point page and this page with the information that @matt_in_mito provided. I have also updated the Structure for this grammar point. Cheers!
simias
I still don’t find any information it this grammar point about the difference between 〜た and 〜ている unless I missed something.
I just got “When you pretended to cry, it was useless.” in a review, the default answer and the audio recording give “泣いたふりをしたって無駄ですよ”, however “泣いているふりをした…” is accepted as an alternative answer.
Given that the past tense is carried by する here I’m still unsure what the nuance between the two is, if any.
Is it simply “when you pretended to cry” vs. “when you were pretending to cry”?
Dwrlesky
I struggle a lot with the different ways to conjugate that grammar point, probably because I don’t understand the difference in english either.
What is the difference between saying:
分かっている ふりをしていた が and 分かっている ふりをした が?
Is it like saying this in english?
I was pretending that I knew what was going on, but I didn’t understand anything.
I pretended that I knew what was going on, but I didn’t understand anything.Assuming the second sentence is correct I don’t really see a difference in meaning.
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