Não finjas estar perdido.

Do not pretend to be lost.

Breakdown of Não finjas estar perdido.

• estar: to be
• não: not
• perdido: lost
• fingir: to pretend

Questions & Answers about Não finjas estar perdido.

What does finjas mean, and what is its base verb?

Finjas comes from the verb fingir, which means to pretend or to fake.

In this sentence, finjas means you pretend in the sense of don’t pretend.

So:

• fingir = to pretend
• finjas = (that) you pretend / used here as don’t pretend

Why is it não finjas and not não finges?

This is because negative commands in Portuguese use the present subjunctive, not the indicative.

So although:

• tu finges = you pretend

the negative command is:

• não finjas = don’t pretend

This is a very important pattern in Portuguese:

• fala = speak

• não fales = don’t speak

• come = eat

• não comas = don’t eat

• finge = pretend
• não finjas = don’t pretend

So não finges would sound like a statement, not the correct negative imperative.

Is this sentence talking to tu or você?