〜ぶる

Pretend/act Like

Level 5Sounds Like buru

Use 〜ぶる to call out someone who is 'putting on airs' or acting in a way that doesn't match their true self. It's like saying someone is 'acting like a big shot' or 'playing the victim.'

How It Works

The suffix 〜ぶる is used when the speaker believes someone is being pretentious or insincere. It implies that the person is 'acting the part' of a specific role or trait to impress others or hide their true nature.

Morphology:

  • Nouns: Attach directly. (e.g., 大人（おとな） + ぶる → 大人ぶる 'to act like an adult')
  • い-adjectives: Remove the final 〜い. (e.g., 偉い（えらい） + ぶる → 偉ぶる 'to act superior')
  • Special Adjective Case: The adjective 可愛い（かわいい） is an exception; it becomes かわい子ぶる（かわいこぶる） by inserting the noun 子（こ） to mean 'acting cute.'
  • な-adjectives: Use the stem. (e.g., 上品（じょうひん） + ぶる → 上品ぶる 'to act refined')

Key Characteristics:
1. Negative Nuance: Unlike neutral words for 'pretending,' 〜ぶる is usually a criticism. It suggests the person is a 'phony.' However, it can occasionally be used in a playful or self-deprecating manner, such as when teasing a child who is acting like a grown-up.
2. Limited Scope: It is mostly used for social status (rich, hero, victim) or personality traits (smart/利口ぶる（りこうぶる）, good person/善人ぶる（ぜんにんぶる）, serious). It is not used for physical actions like 'pretending to sleep.' Note that 'acting cool' is typically expressed as かっこつける rather than かっこぶる.
3. Conjugation: It conjugates like a standard Group 1 verb (e.g., 〜ぶらない, 〜ぶりまして, 〜ぶった).
4. Special Case: The phrase 知ったかぶる（しったかぶる） (acting like a know-it-all) is a common lexicalized exception. It attaches to the noun-like phrase 知ったか（しったか） rather than a direct verb form.

Examples (4)

  1. 彼は金持ちぶっているが、本当は借金がたくさんある。

    He acts like he's rich, but in reality, he has a lot of debt.

    Word by Word: He rich-acting is, but reality-as-for debt a lot exists.

    Here, 〜ぶっている (the progressive form) describes a continuous state of pretending to be wealthy.

  2. あの子は、好きな人の前でだけかわい子ぶるから嫌われている。

    That girl is disliked because she only acts all cutesy in front of people she likes.

    Word by Word: That child, liked person's front at only cute-child-acts because is-disliked.

    かわい子ぶる is a very common set phrase used to criticize someone for acting overly 'cute' or 'innocent' to get attention.

  3. 知らないくせに知ったかぶるのはやめなさい。

    Stop acting like a know-it-all when you don't actually know anything.

    Word by Word: Don't know despite know-pretending-to-do stop.

    This uses くせに to emphasize the contradiction between the person's lack of knowledge and their behavior.

  4. 彼女はいつも被害者ぶって、周りの同情を買おうとする。

    She always acts like the victim to try and get sympathy from those around her.

    Word by Word: She always victim-acting, surroundings' sympathy buy-try-to-do.

    被害者ぶる (acting like the victim) is used here to describe a manipulative behavior.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the 〜い when attaching to い-adjectives.

    彼は偉いぶっている。
    彼は偉ぶっている。

    When using い-adjectives with 〜ぶる, you must drop the final 〜い. 偉いぶる（えらいぶる） is incorrect; it must be 偉ぶる（えらぶる）.

  • Using 〜ぶる for physical actions instead of personality traits.

    寝ぶる
    寝たふりをする

    〜ぶる is for social roles or character traits. For physical actions or specific temporary deceptions, use ふりをする (to pretend) instead.

How It Connects

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〜ぶるLevel 5Pretend/act Like

Learn This First

The pattern 〜ぶる is a suffix that turns nouns or adjective stems into Godan verbs meaning 'to behave like' or 'to pretend to be'. To use it correctly, you need to understand how to identify adjective stems and how to conjugate the resulting verb like a standard Group 1 verb (e.g., ぶります, ぶって, ぶらない).

Words in This Pattern

ぶる