This one’s SUPER common in Mexico, and it’s actually a phrase that I puzzled over for years! I remember asking a pal what it meant and being told that it’s basically a way of setting up a hypothetical situation… but I was sure that there was a bit more to it than that! Turns out, you CAN use it to set up a hypothetical situation (a bit like the English basically or imagine that), but you’ll also hear it in other contexts too! 👉 basically / imagine

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Here are two examples in which Félix the underground rapper uses it in a similar way to basically in English: Talking about his construction job (at approx. 03:04): Y haz de cuenta que yo chambeaba, yo, en los, en los pavimentos, este, con muchos albañiles.
And basically, I worked on road construction with a bunch of bricklayers. Describing their communal lunches (at approx. 04:25): Y haz de cuenta que, este… Luego, a las dos de la tarde, comíamos todos juntos y todos, todos, todos sacaban su tópercito.
And basically, um… at two in the afternoon, we’d all eat together, and everyone would get their lunchbox out.

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And here Rafael the rocker (at approx. 04:46) uses it more like imagine or picture this when describing his old apartment: Y haz de cuenta que era como un primer piso…
Just imagine, it was on the first floor… 💡 You’ll normally hear haz de cuenta que used with the indicative, NOT the subjunctive. Why? Because the indicative makes the situation feel more real, like you're stepping inside the scene. The subjunctive makes it sound more detached and hypothetical. And for storytelling we want vivid! You’ll hear native speakers telling stories in the present tense for the exact same reason!