English translation:
to pretend
to act as if
Structure:
Verb[た] + ふりをする
Verb[ている] + ふりをする
Verb[ない] + ふりをするい-Adj + ふりをする
Noun・の + ふりをする
な-Adj・な + ふりをする
Notes on conjugations
ふりをする is a tricky grammar point when it comes to conjugations as both the verb that comes before it and する can be conjugated. It really boils down to what the speaker wishes to emphasize, but there are a few quirky things in Japanese that make this a tad confusing.
泣いたふりをしたって無駄ですよ。
If we use the above sentence as an example and change the conjugation around, we will get multiple nuances. 泣いたフリ - literally means “to pretend to have cried,” but it is a much more common expression meaning “to pretend to cry.” You can use 泣く here, but it removes any sense of having already done the crying (most likely used by someone who WILL be pretending to cry for the first time). Next, we can use 泣いて(い)るふり, “to pretend to be crying,” or 泣いて(い)たふり, “to pretend to have been crying.”
Notice that the English translations all focus on what is happening to “cry.” Once you start conjugating する, it can get a bit convoluted. 泣いたふりをした - “pretended to have cried,” 泣いたふりをする - “pretend to cry (with focus on past actions),” 泣いているふりをしている - “pretending to be crying,” 泣いていたふりをしている - “pretending to have been crying,” etc.
As you can see, the number of possible conjugations and interpretations of those conjugations is quite large and I only covered a few examples. We try our best to catch alternative answers or answers that you might attempt that would be close to the correct answer. If you feel that you tried something that should have worked, please let us know so that we can update those answers.
