Idiota: Correccion en un ensayo

Question

Hola! Estoy arreglando una composicion. Mi profesora ha marcado las errores y necesito ayuda en unas de ellas.

En ingles quiero decir: Some people thought that he was making an idiot of himself....

Escribi en mi composicion: Algunas personas pensaban que el estaba haciendo un idiota de si mismo

Ella marco que la formacion verbal es incorrecto. Que es la correcta manera?

Answer 1

I agree with Jubilado´s structure, but I would say: Algunas personas pensaban que se hacía idiota.

Imperfecto because according your English version there is no clear start/end of the verbal phrases. Also when we use "hacerse ......" we don´t use the article following the phrase because - in this case - he is not making a specific idiot of himself but just acting like any idiot.

*el* idiota... - chileno, Nov 24, 2013

Agreed: "él" or no article at all - 005faa61, Nov 24, 2013

Gracias! - karinacocina, Nov 25, 2013

Thanks for the clarification on "hacerse" phrases! And I feel very good that a native speaker agrees with my structure! - Jubilado, Nov 25, 2013

Answer 2

...que se hacía pasar por (un) idiota.

interesting variation. - Jubilado, Nov 25, 2013

Answer 3

It may be better: Algunas personas pensaron que se hizo un idiota...

I am not a native speaker so I don't know if your teacher was needing you to use imperfect or preterite in the composition or if the imperfect which you used just doesn't sound right. I hope a native speaker answers this.