[Grammar] He pretended as if he WAS/WERE/HAD BEEN sleeping.

[Sahil Dhankhar]

This is not my homework.

I read this sentence somewhere - He pretended as if he were sleeping.

I think that this is not grammatically correct. Because, as per my knowledge, if we talk about unreal situations, we use "past simple along with the exception that "were" is always used in place of was " tense for the situations of present that are unreal and past perfect for the unreal situations of past.

So if I take this as unreal situation, as it is the situation of past then it should be written as - He pretended as if he had been sleeping. If we take this as unreal situation of present, it should have been written as - He pretends as if he were sleeping.

Or even if we take this situation as real, "was" should have been used instead of "were" as- He pretended as if he was sleeping.

But I think that "He pretended as if he were sleeping" is not correct.

What are your views on this?

 

[Rover_KE]

It's not colloquial.

He pretended to be asleep.

 

[teechar]

or
He pretended he was asleep/sleeping.

 

[Sahil Dhankhar]

I value your response. If I, strictly, have to write the sentence in the same pattern as I have mentioned, which would be correct?

Also, Is the question mark in the above sentence correct?

 

[GoesStation]

The question mark is correct. I'd say He pretended as if he was sleeping. It's clumsy, though; as if is unnecessary.

 

[emsr2d2]

I value your response. If I [STRIKE], strictly,[/STRIKE] have to write the sentence strictly in the same pattern [STRIKE]as[/STRIKE] that I have mentioned, which would be correct?

Also, is the question mark in the above sentence correct?

Why would you have to write the sentence strictly in that pattern? Yes, the question mark was correct. Don't use a capital letter after a comma unless the word is a proper noun.

 

[Tdol]

The pattern with as if doesn't work, so I would reject the pattern.

With regard to your distinction between the past and past perfect, I think that the underlying idea would be whether he had pretended to wake up, in which case the past perfect would be better, or whether he wanted the person to believe him to be still asleep. They are, all still incorrect, though:

He pretended to be asleep/He pretended that he was asleep. (Still pretending to be asleep)
He pretended that he had been asleep. (He hadn't been asleep but now was pretending to have woken up from a sleep)

 

[Sahil Dhankhar]

"Why would you have to write the sentence strictly in that pattern?" -To clarify the grammar rules for the sentences containing unreal situations.

Kindly see the sentence:- He talked as if he were a king. (The situation was not real as he was really not a king.)

If the above sentence is right then what's wrong with the sentence - He pretended as if he were sleeping. (Because still the situation was not real, he wasn't actually sleeping.)

 

[emsr2d2]

You can't just put "as if" after any verb. It works with some. It doesn't work with others. It's fine after "talk". It doesn't work after "pretend".

 

[Raymott]

Kindly see the sentence:- He talked as if he were a king. (The situation was not real as he was really not a king.)
If the above sentence is right then what's wrong with the sentence - He pretended as if he were sleeping. (Because still the situation was not real, he wasn't actually sleeping.)

"He talked as if he were a king." "He talked in the way that a king would talk - because kings talk in a certain distinct way."
"He pretended as if he were sleeping." "He pretended in the way that a sleeping person would pretend - because sleeping people pretend in a certain distinct way." No, sleeping people do not normally pretend.
These sentences are not analogues.

 

[GoesStation]

You may hear American children use pretend as if. Careful speakers would not use this construction.