CarloSsS
Senior Member
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2010
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Czech
- Home Country
- Czech Republic
- Current Location
- Czech Republic
Is it all right to shift tenses with unreal time structure combined with as/if as though?
Direct speech:
Tom, you look as if you were ill." (This means that although he looks ill, he is not).
Indirect speech:
"When I saw Tom, he looked as if he was ill." (This is what I would use normally).
"When I saw Tom, as if he had been ill." (This is what I would use if I wanted to suggest that he might have been ill sometimes in the (recent) past before I saw him).
Is my reasoning correct?
Direct speech:
Tom, you look as if you were ill." (This means that although he looks ill, he is not).
Indirect speech:
"When I saw Tom, he looked as if he was ill." (This is what I would use normally).
"When I saw Tom, as if he had been ill." (This is what I would use if I wanted to suggest that he might have been ill sometimes in the (recent) past before I saw him).
Is my reasoning correct?