The phrase "as if pretending" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a situation where someone is acting in a way that suggests they are not being genuine or are putting on a facade.
Example: "She smiled at him, as if pretending to be happy, while her eyes revealed her true feelings."
Alternatives: "as though feigning" or "as if acting".
A garishly painted papier-mache blob is mounted on a plinth as if pretending to have delusions of monumental grandeur.
They held their wings out and every so often would bend them to drop a metre or two, as if pretending to fall, then glide up again and repeat the maneuver.
I believe humankind has looked at climate change in that same way: as if it were a fiction, happening to someone else's planet, as if pretending that climate change wasn't real would somehow make it go away.
For eight hours on Saturday, Mr. Breivik showed the police how he had stalked his victims, at times holding up his arms as if pretending to take aim at fleeing members of a political youth camp who were his targets on the island of Utoya.
I believe humankind has looked at climate change in that same way: as if it were a fiction, happening to someone else's planet, as if pretending that climate change wasn't real would somehow make it go away," he told the UN meeting.
He painted not only the scenes of outback life for which he is best loved, but also dazzling seaside scenes in primary colours and thick impasto and portentous semi-abstracts, as if pretending that he could do proper art if he wished.
Choose a new thought to replace the old one and act as if! Pretend it's already true.
I read because our culture is obsessed with youth and life and denounces age and wisdom and death as if pretending that change doesn't happen will stave it off and yet everyday I am confronted with impermanence.
It was as if by pretending that Nnamabia had not done the things he had done we could give him the opportunity to start afresh.
But still Perowne keeps coming, slowing all the while, as if, by pretending not to know, he could be exempted — after all, he only wants to cross this road, not drive down it.
Acting "as if" means pretending you already have the thing that you want.
