English is a tough language to learn when you’re learning it as a second language.

Take for instance this phrase, “I don’t pretend to know anything”.

What does it mean?

“I know” means “I have knowledge about a subject”.

“I pretend to know” means “I have no idea what you are talking about but I am just going to fake it and hope no one sees through my charade”.

“I don’t pretend to know” means “If I have no idea, I will not lie about knowing the subject at hand”.

“anything” means “what people really mean when they say everything”.

Thus, “I don’t pretend to know anything” means “I have no fricking clue what you are talking about and I won’t even waste an ounce of energy faking that I do”.

So what have we learned today, class?

If you are drawing a blank when in a conversation, just visualize them in their underwear and zone out.