[Grammar] as if

[sb70012]

He is a student but he speaks as if he was/were a teacher. (he is not a teacher)

Hi,
This is my question:
What happens if the sentence starts in the past tense?

I mean:

He was a student ......................

Would you please write the rest of the sentence if used with simple past?

Thank you

 

[bhaisahab]

He is a student but he speaks as if he was/were a teacher. (he is not a teacher)

Hi,
This is my question:
What happens if the sentence starts in the past tense?

I mean:

He was a student ......................


Would you please write the rest of the sentence if used with simple past?

Thank you

"...but he spoke as if he was a teacher."

 

[sb70012]

Thank you.
This is my last question.

Let's omit [he is a student] and [he was a student]

He speaks as if he is a teacher. (he is a teacher)
He speaks as if he was/were a teacher. (he is not a teacher)

Now would you please rewrite them with [He poke]?

I mean would you please be nice enough to fulfill the blanks?
He spoke as if he ......:?:..... a teacher. (he was a teacher)
He spoke as if he .......:?:.... a teacher. (he was not a teacher)

Thank you.

 

[bhaisahab]

Thank you.
This is my last question.

Let's omit [he is a student] and [he was a student]

He speaks as if he is a teacher. (he is a teacher)
He speaks as if he was/were a teacher. (he is not a teacher)

Now would you please rewrite them with [He poke]?

I mean would you please be nice enough to fulfill the blanks?
He spoke as if he ......:?:..... a teacher. (he was a teacher)
He spoke as if he .......:?:.... a teacher. (he was not a teacher)

Thank you.

"was" in both cases.

 

[sb70012]

Then how should we know if the speaker means (he was a teacher) or (he was not a teacher)?

 

[bhaisahab]

Then how should we know the speaker means (he was a teacher) or (he was not a teacher)?

We don't. Further context is required.

 

[sb70012]

You see now what I am confused with?
As you know in simple present, we don't have any confusion and the main goal of the speaker is clear.
I mean here the meanings without more context is very clear. We use "is" when we mean that "he is really a teacher" and we use "was" when we mean that "he is not a teacher and he just looks like a teacher"
So if our sentence starts with [as if] in simple present it's very easy to recognize what the speaker means.
1. He speaks as if he is a teacher. (he is a teacher)
2. He speaks as if he was/were a teacher. (he is not a teacher)

But I wish there was a clue in [as if] if it started in simple past.
Before asking this question, I thought that the blanks would be written in this form:

He spoke as if he ...[was]....... a teacher. (he was a teacher)
He spoke as if he ...[had been]... a teacher. (he was not a teacher)

As you see, in simple present, without more context it's easy to know the meanings by [is] and [was]. But if for simple past we use [was] for both then recognizing the main meaning will be very difficult.

Any opinion?

 

[sb70012]

Bhaisahad, I think you are right. We can't use "had been"
I found the answer of my question in this link too: AS IF / AS THOUGH | Grammaring - A guide to English grammar
You are right, without more context it can't be done.
Ok now I completely understood it.
Thanks everybody.

 

[sb70012]

In this website this is written:AS IF / AS THOUGH | Grammaring - A guide to English grammar
If the preceding verb is put into the past tense, the present perfect hasn't slept changes into past perfect, while the past perfect subjunctive hadn't slept stays the same:

He seemed as if he hadn't slept for days.

This is my question: Can I write "didn't slept" instead of "hadn't slept"?:?:


​

 

[bhaisahab]

In this website this is written:AS IF / AS THOUGH | Grammaring - A guide to English grammar
If the preceding verb is put into the past tense, the present perfect hasn't slept changes into past perfect, while the past perfect subjunctive hadn't slept stays the same:

He seemed as if he hadn't slept for days.

This is my question: Can I write "didn't slept" instead of "hadn't slept"?:?:


​

No, "didn't slept" is ungrammatical.

 

[MikeNewYork]

He is a student but he speaks as if he was/were a teacher. (he is not a teacher)

Hi,
This is my question:
What happens if the sentence starts in the past tense?

I mean:

He was a student ......................

Would you please write the rest of the sentence if used with simple past?

Thank you

I would use the subjunctive form "were" because the statement is contrary to fact. The subjunctive is used more commonly in AmE than in BrE.

 

[5jj]

This is my last question.

:shock:

It wasn't!:drinking:

 

[tzfujimino]

I mean would you please be nice enough to fulfill the blanks?
He spoke as if he ......:?:..... a teacher. (he was a teacher)
He spoke as if he .......:?:.... a teacher. (he was not a teacher)

Thank you.

Hello.:-D

I'd fill in the blanks like these:

He spoke as if he weren't a teacher.
He spoke as if he were a teacher.

I imagine sb70012 is asking about the so-called "backshifting", which I think doesn't occur in those examples above.

 

[emsr2d2]

I slept well last night.
I didn't sleep last night.
I didn't sleep well last night.
I didn't sleep at all last night.
I haven't slept since Tuesday!
I haven't slept well for about three weeks.
I was so happy to wake up yesterday morning fully refreshed. I hadn't slept properly for weeks before that.