Missing Pretend?
No te las des de valiente porque sé que tienes miedo. = Don’t pretend to be brave because I know you're frightened.
Could someone please explain the 1st part of this sentence to me? I do not understand where the “pretend” comes from.
Shouldn’t the verb fingir or pretender be in there somewhere?
4 Answers
dárselas de - to pose as, pretend to be
Here is a case where the phrase book is handy. Darselas means to pose, to claim, to pretend. Someitmes when the words just don't seem to translate literally, it is a sign that you are dealing with a special meaning " an idom".
No te las des de valiente porque sé que tienes miedo.
It hasn´t been mentioned that "les" is directing the action to female listeners. Without "les" it is not directed to anyone but just a general statement.
Also, "pretender" is not used the same way as "fingir." We use "pretender" as "to mean to do something" and not to pretend as in English.
All that I can think is that it must be a phrase ," don't give to the brave"
which means ," do not pretend. The verb " Pretender " as you say is not there.
We need to wait for a native speaker for help
