As if sentence

[diplomacy]

Is it correct?
He talks as if he knows me.

If I say:
He talks as if he knew me.

Correct

 

[emsr2d2]

Is it correct?
He talks as if he knows me.

If I say:
He talks as if he knew me.

Correct

I think if you added a timescale it might work.

He talks as if he knew me in a previous life.

The talking takes place now but the man speaks as if you had previously known each other.

Otherwise, I would use "He talks as if he knows me" or "He talked as if he knew me".

 

[CarloSsS]

I think if you added a timescale it might work.

He talks as if he knew me in a previous life.

The talking takes place now but the man speaks as if you had previously known each other.

Otherwise, I would use "He talks as if he knows me" or "He talked as if he knew me".

NOT A TEACHER

If I heard only "He talks as if he knew me", I'd think that the speaker is trying to say that they don't know each other, but the other talks to him in a way that suggests that they know each other even though they don't.

 

[5jj]

Mr Smith would talk that way if he knew me.

In this second conditional sentence, the past-form knew distances the 'knowing' in reality. We know that a hypothetical 'knowing' is being spoken of. Mr Smith does not know the speaker.

He talks as if he [KNOW] me.

Here the as if tells us already that we are speaking of a hypothetical 'knowing'. Many speakers therefore feel no need for the distancing form knew, especially as it could suggest a past 'knowing', as ems suggested.

 

[CarloSsS]

Mr Smith would talk that way if he knew me.

In this second conditional sentence, the past-form knew distances the 'knowing' in reality. We know that a hypothetical 'knowing' is being spoken of. Mr Smith does not know the speaker.

He talks as if he [KNOW] me.

Here the as if tells us already that we are speaking of a hypothetical 'knowing'. Many speakers therefore feel no need for the distancing form knew, especially as it could suggest a past 'knowing', as ems suggested.

What if I had these two sentences? Do they both mean that she definitely is not rich?

She looks as if she is rich.
She looks as if she was rich.

If I understand you correctly, these two are interchangeable and mean essentially the same thing and there's no need for distancing.

 

[5jj]

What if I had these two sentences? Do they both mean that she definitely is not rich?

She looks as if she is rich.
She looks as if she was rich.

If I understand you correctly, these two are interchangeable and mean essentially the same thing and there's no need for distancing.

We have a further complicator there, looks = appears. This itself suggests that things may not be what they seem to be. The first suggests to me that her appearance gives the impression that she is rich; the second that her appearance gives the impression that she was rich.

I remember a thread on this not long after I joined the forum. By the end of it, I was unsure what meant what. I think that this is one of those areas where the two parties in a conversation know, with the help of context, what is meant, and grammarians analyse it at their peril. In formal writing, I would think very carefully about how I composed my sentence.

 

[5jj]

I have located a couple of threads on this. Warning: they are not for the faint-hearted.

https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/138826-she-looks-if-she-sick-conditional-factual.html

https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/162487-he-talks-if-he-were-doctor.html