[Grammar] as if conditional

[finwing]

I'm studying 'as if conditional', which is so so confusing about the meaning.

1. He pretended as if he studied computer science at college.
can be following both?
In fact, he didn't study computer science at college.
I think he studied computer science at college.


2. He pretended as he had met me yesterday.

'yesterday', a definite past word, can come along with perfect tense?

Please help me out~~

 

[Raymott]

"As if" is not a conditional. Change it to "as though", forget conditionality, and you might understand it better.
In any case, you can't use it with "pretend".

1a. "He pretended that he studied computer science at college."
1b. "He behaved as though he studied computer science at college."
2a. "He pretended that he had met me yesterday."
2b. "He acted as though he had met me yesterday."

 

[5jj]

Your sentences are not natural. You cannot 'pretend as if ...'.

He claims that he has met me before, but I knew that he hasn't.
He claims to have met me before, but I knew that he hasn't.
He pretends that he is my husband (when we go on holiday in certain countries. This means that we can share a room with no problems.)
He pretends to be my husband (when we go on holiday in certain countries. This means that we can share a room with no problems.)
He acts as if he were my husband, and I am getting fed up with it. We may live together, but we are not married, and he has no right to to try to run my life.

ps. [STRIKE]Rover[/STRIKE] Raymott got there first, but I'll leave my post; the examples are different.

 

[charliedeut]

ps. Rover got there first, but I'll leave my post; the examples are different.

Have a closer look! ;-)

 

[Rover_KE]

I never said a word.:shock:

 

[finwing]

Thanks for the answer, but I'm looking forward to further one. Actually I think I chose the wrong word-conditional, which has put myself in more of confusion and made question messy. What if 'subjunctive' and different verb and if instead of conditional and 'pretend'? I didn't replace 'if' cause I've found this AS IF / AS THOUGH | Grammaring

1. He talked as if he studied computer science at college.
can mean
In fact, he didn't study computer science at college.
and
I think he studied computer science at college.

Waiting for the generous.

 

[Gillnetter]

Thanks for the answer, but I'm looking forward to further one. Actually I think I chose the wrong word-conditional, which has put myself in more of confusion and made question messy. What if 'subjunctive' and different verb and if instead of conditional and 'pretend'? I didn't replace 'if' cause I've found this AS IF / AS THOUGH | Grammaring

1. He talked as if he studied computer science at college.
can mean
In fact, he didn't study computer science at college.
and
I think he studied computer science at college.

Waiting for the generous (The generous what?).

There is not enough informaton supplied to come to either of your options. All we know for certain is that he spoke as if he had studied computer science at college. This may mean that he used certain terms one would learn in a college level, computer science course.

 

[finwing]

If 'He talked as if he studied computer science at college.' is understood as' he spoke as if he had studied computer science at college', just 'studied' and 'had studied' mean the same here? That's exactly what I want to know though I wrote the messy question...

Waiting for the generous (The generous what?)--> the generous meant generous people^^

 

[5jj]

If 'He talked as if he studied computer science at college.' is understood as' he spoke as if he had studied computer science at college', just 'studied' and 'had studied' mean the same here? That's exactly what I want to know though I wrote the messy question...

He talked as if he studied - He gave the impression that he is a student now.
He talked as if he had studied - he gave the impression that he was a student in the past.