pretending vs pretend

pretending and pretend both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
pretending	Yes	No	No	No
pretend	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

As nouns, pretend is a hyponym of pretending; that is, pretend is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than pretending:

Other hyponyms of pretending include appearance, show, make-believe, affectation, affectedness, mannerism, pose, charade, masquerade.

pretending (noun)	pretend (noun)
the act of giving a false appearance	the enactment of a pretense

pretending (adjective)	pretend (adjective)
	imagined as in a play

pretending (verb)	pretend (verb)
	make believe with the intent to deceive
	represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like
	put forward, of a guess, in spite of possible refutation
	state insincerely
	behave unnaturally or affectedly
	put forward a claim and assert right or possession of