Finge di dormire.

Finge comes from the verb fingere.

In this sentence, it is the present indicative, third person singular form:

• io fingo = I pretend
• tu fingi = you pretend
• lui/lei finge = he/she pretends

So finge di dormire most naturally means he/she pretends to sleep.

Depending on context, it could also refer to Lei (formal you) in Italian, because Italian often leaves the subject unspoken.

Italian often omits subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows the person and number.

So instead of saying:

• Lui finge di dormire

Italian very often just says:

• Finge di dormire

This is normal and natural. The subject is usually understood from:

• the verb form
• the context
• the previous sentence

Because fingere is commonly followed by di + infinitive when it means to pretend to do something.

So the pattern is:

• fingere di + infinitive

Examples:

• finge di dormire = pretends to sleep
• finge di capire = pretends to understand
• finge di leggere = pretends to read

This is just the structure the verb normally uses. English learners often want to translate word-for-word, but with verbs like this, it is better to learn the pattern as a whole.

Yes. Dormire is the infinitive form of the verb to sleep.

After fingere di, Italian uses the infinitive:

• finge di dormire
• finge di mangiare
• finge di lavorare

So literally, the structure is something like pretends of/to sleep, but in natural English we simply say pretends to sleep.

Normally, no. With fingere in this meaning, Italian usually needs di before the infinitive.

So:

• finge di dormire = correct
• finge dormire = not standard

It is best to remember fingere di + infinitive as a fixed pattern.

Yes, fingere is correct, but in everyday speech Italians very often use:

• fare finta di + infinitive

So alongside finge di dormire, you will also hear:

• fa finta di dormire

Both are correct. Very roughly:

• fingere can sound a little more direct or literary in some contexts
• fare finta di is extremely common in everyday Italian

A learner should recognize both.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

FEEN-jeh dee dor-MEE-reh

A few useful points:

• fin- sounds like feen
• ge in finge sounds like the j in jam, but softer
• di sounds like dee
• dormire has the stress on -mi-: dor-MEE-re

If you want a rough IPA version:

• /ˈfin.dʒe di dorˈmi.re/

By itself, finge is just a verb form, so its exact subject depends on context.

It can mean:

• he pretends
• she pretends
• it pretends (less common, depending on context)
• you pretend if the subject is formal Lei

In most beginner contexts, the default reading is:

• he/she pretends

In this sentence, dormire is grammatically an infinitive, so it is best understood as to sleep.

English sometimes uses pretend to be sleeping, but Italian does not need a separate form here. It simply says:

• finge di dormire

So even if English might use sleeping, Italian still uses the infinitive dormire after di.

You change the form of fingere, but di dormire stays the same.

Examples:

• fingo di dormire = I pretend to sleep
• fingi di dormire = you pretend to sleep
• finge di dormire = he/she pretends to sleep
• fingiamo di dormire = we pretend to sleep
• fingete di dormire = you all pretend to sleep
• fingono di dormire = they pretend to sleep

This is a very useful pattern to practice:

• [form of fingere] + di + infinitive

Yes, it is perfectly natural.

Finge di dormire is a normal, grammatical Italian sentence. It is short, and it would commonly appear when the subject is already known from context.

For example:

• Quando entra sua madre, finge di dormire. = When his/her mother comes in, he/she pretends to be asleep.

So the sentence is both correct and natural, especially in context.