Luke Kim
New member
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2014
- Member Type
- English Teacher
- Native Language
- Korean
- Home Country
- South Korea
- Current Location
- South Korea
In constructions with "as if", the use of the past implies a comparison which we know is not true, whereas the use of the present makes the comparison possible, thus:
"She behaves as if she were really wealthy" means that we know she isn't really wealthy. Similarly,
"She looks as if she's really wealthy" means that she could very well be wealthy.
Now, in the following example I get the sense that The situation is not true
each student in the psychophysics laboratory takes a turn sitting in front of three buckets of water-one cold, one at room temperature, and one hot. After placing one hand in the cold water and one in the hot water, the student is told to place both in the lukewarm water simultaneously. Then something surprising happens. Even though both hands are in the same bucket, the hand that was in the cold water feels as if it is now in the hot water, while the one in the hot water feels as if it is in cold water.
Following the explanation above, the correct form would be “as if it ”were“ now in the hot water. But isn't the present, as stated above, only for cases that we know there are possibilities?
"She behaves as if she were really wealthy" means that we know she isn't really wealthy. Similarly,
"She looks as if she's really wealthy" means that she could very well be wealthy.
Now, in the following example I get the sense that The situation is not true
each student in the psychophysics laboratory takes a turn sitting in front of three buckets of water-one cold, one at room temperature, and one hot. After placing one hand in the cold water and one in the hot water, the student is told to place both in the lukewarm water simultaneously. Then something surprising happens. Even though both hands are in the same bucket, the hand that was in the cold water feels as if it is now in the hot water, while the one in the hot water feels as if it is in cold water.
Following the explanation above, the correct form would be “as if it ”were“ now in the hot water. But isn't the present, as stated above, only for cases that we know there are possibilities?