pretendere
to demand, to claim
verb preh-TEN-deh-reh Less Common
Origin: Latin praetendere, from prae- (before) + tendere (to stretch)
Also means
to pretend (archaic/regional)
Usage Note
Pretendere is a significant false friend: it does NOT mean 'to pretend' (that is fingere). It means to demand or claim something as a right: pretendo una risposta = 'I demand an answer'. Only in some regional or dated usage does it edge toward 'to claim falsely'. Auxiliary: avere.
Examples
"Non puoi pretendere tutto subito."
Natural Translation
You can't demand everything at once.

Free starter pack
Building your Italian vocabulary?
Get the 100 most common Italian words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.
Related Words
Explore Italian by topic
ItalianNow
5 min read