had been trapped

[keannu]

Are these really predictive not counterfactual? The runner surely know he was not in sauna, but just as a metaphor he said it? I learned "as if" is an exception in counterfactual conditional, but sometimes you can use "I felt like I hade been trapped", so I can't tell the difference. Is it really predictive, not counterfactual?

ex)I had finally done it. All my life I had dreamt of winning an Olympic gold medal. And doing so in my home country of Austrailia was thrilling. Crossing the finish line was a huge relief; it felt as though I had been trapped in an extremely hot sauna and the door had suddenly been opened...

[5jj]

It is certainly not predictive. As he had not been trapped, then you can use the label 'counterfactual' if you must have a label. The writer had a feeling similar to one he would have experienced if he really had been trapped.

[keannu]

It is certainly not predictive. As he had not been trapped, then you can use the label 'counterfactual' if you must have a label. The writer had a feeling similar to one he would have experienced if he really had been trapped.

But about a year ago, I remember talking about the characteristics of "as if" very seriously, and you and other teachers said "as if" is a predictive expression.
ex) He talks as if he were a doctor. => We don't know if he is a doctor.

[5jj]

But about a year ago, I remember talking about the characteristics of "as if" very seriously, and you and other teachers said "as if" is a predictive expression.
ex) He talks as if he were a doctor. => We don't know if he is a doctor.

If I said that that was predictive, I was having an off day.

Could you provide a link to the thread? I can't find it.

[Barb_D]

I remember once learning that "You like you've seen a ghost" and "You look as if you've seen a ghost" were not the same, and one was correct, and the other was not. However, I don't know any Americans who observe a difference here.

[keannu]

If I said that that was predictive, I was having an off day.

Could you provide a link to the thread? I can't find it.

I searched with the keywords like "keannu" and "as if", but couldn't find it, It seems to have been deleted. I'm really sorry it was...

[5jj]

I searched with the keywords like "keannu" and "as if", but couldn't find it, It seems to have been deleted. I'm really sorry it was...

The closest I came was this: http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/as...l-factual.html

[keannu]

The closest I came was this: http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/as...l-factual.html

Yes!!!! In that thread, the teachers said there's little difference between "as if he is" and "as if he were", so "as if he were" is almost a predictive one. Over the last one year I have taught my students the grammar books' part related to it is wrong, and you should take it as an uncertainty. If it's wrong, I have lied to my students so far....

[5jj]

For one thing, keannu, none of us used the wprd 'predictive' in that thread. You are making unjustified leaps again.

[keannu]

For one thing, keannu, none of us used the wprd 'predictive' in that thread. You are making unjustified leaps again.

Maybe my term is not proper, I can't find the most proper term, but both you and me understand what it means. Maybe it's uncertainty. And in the following, it was said that it can't be counterfactual.

1.She talks as if she is rich. (factual-present)
The 'talking is a presented as a fact. The 'being rich' is presented as an appearance. We don't know whether she is rich or not.

2.She talks as if she were rich (counterfactual-present)
I said previously that I don't think this is possible but, after due consideration, I now feel that some people might say it. The possibility of her being rich is less real than in #1, but I don't feel that it is totally excluded, so the word 'counterfactual' is inappropriate.

He acts as if he is/was/were the boss. - We do not know for certain whether he is the boss.=> And also in this, it's uncertainty.