as if she has been vs as if she had been

[ostap77]

1)"She explains everything so well as if she has been a teacher all her life."


OR

2)"She explained everything so well as if she had been a teacher all her life."

OR


3)"She explains everything so well as if she had been a teacher all her life."

To me sentences 1) and 2) are correct whereas 3) seems to be incorrect. What do you think?

 

[bhaisahab]

1)"She explains everything so well as if she has been a teacher all her life."


OR

2)"She explained everything so well as if she had been a teacher all her life."

OR


3)"She explains everything so well as if she had been a teacher all her life."

To me sentences 1) and 2) are correct whereas 3) seems to be incorrect. What do you think?

You need a comma after "well" in each case. I'd accept #3 as correct.

 

[ostap77]

What's the difference between 1) and 3)?

 

[BrunaBC]

NOT A TEACHER

Hi,

The three sentences are possible, but there's a difference in meaning. Observe:

Sentence 1 - she explains in a way that leads me to assume that she probably is a teacher.

Sentence 2 - she explained something, but I assume that she was not a teacher. She speaks as if she were, but she's not.

Sentence 3 - Same explanation on 2, but in the present tense ( explains instead of explained).

Regards.

 

[5jj]

Sentence 1 - she explains in a way that leads me to assume that she probably is a teacher.
No. It's not a question of the speaker assuming this. The speaker is simply saying that 'she' explained things in a way that she would have done if she had been a teacher all her life. We cannot be certain, but it is possible that the speaker knows/believes that 'she' was not a teacher, or at least had not been one for long.

Sentence 2 - she explained something, but I assume that she was not a teacher. She speaks as if she were, but she's not.
That's possible. It's also possible that the speaker assumed 'she' was a teacher, but had not been one for long.

5

 

[ostap77]

Wow.! I can hardly get the difference between 1) and 3). I guess the 1) more real than 3).