She felt herself followed (by a stranger).

[Alice Chu]

Hello.
Could you please tell me if my sentences below are correct?

1. She felt herself followed (by a stranger).
2. She felt a stranger follow/following her.

 

[jutfrank]

1. No
2. No/No

I think you mean this: She felt as if she was being followed.

 

[GoesStation]

Or, for a boring old pedant like me, She felt as if she were being followed.

Or an American — though the indicative is probably just as likely here.

 

[emsr2d2]

There are a few ways of expressing this but, unfortunately, neither of your sentences work.

She felt like she was being followed by a stranger.
She felt like a stranger was following her.
She suspected she was being followed by a stranger.
She suspected a stranger was following her.

There's a slight difference between "felt" and "suspected".

 

[Rover_KE]

Also She sensed that she was being followed/that someone was following her.

 

[Phaedrus]

Other options:

3. She felt herself to be being followed (by a stranger).
4. She felt herself being followed (by a stranger).

Sentence (3) is equivalent in meaning to She felt as if she were being followed (by a stranger).

Sentence (4) conveys a different nuance of meaning. It presupposes, as I see it, that she is being followed, and says that she felt it. Compare:

She was being followed by a ghost, and felt herself being followed by it.

Normally, I don't create example sentences having to do with ghosts, but I'm reading Henry James's The Turn of the Screw right now.

 

[GoesStation]

Other options:

3. She felt herself to be being followed (by a stranger).

I can't imagine any native speaker saying or writing that.

 

[Phaedrus]

I can't imagine any native speaker saying or writing that.

Here's a context in which I, who am a native speaker, might say or write it. See if you find it imaginable.

A: She says she was being followed by a stranger.
B: What makes her so sure she was?
A: Women's intuition. She felt herself to be being followed by a stranger.

 

[GoesStation]

Here's a context in which I, who am a native speaker, might say or write it. See if you find it imaginable.

A: She says she was being followed by a stranger.
B: What makes her so sure she was?
A: Women's intuition. She felt herself to be being followed by a stranger.

Nope.

 

[Phaedrus]

Nope.

Yup.

 

[kadioguy]

She felt as if she was being followed.

She felt as if she were being followed.

1. She felt as if she was being followed.
2. She felt as if she were being followed.

(1) can mean:

She felt as if she was being followed. [(Perhaps she was.) or (But she was not.)]

(2) can only mean:

She felt as if she were being followed. [(But she was not.)]

------

Am I right?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

1. She felt as if she was being followed.

2. She felt as if she were being followed.

Number 1 can mean:

She felt [STRIKE]as if[/STRIKE] she was being followed. [STRIKE][[/STRIKE][STRIKE](Perhaps she was.) or (But she was not.)] [/STRIKE]

The "as if" confuses it. She felt she was being followed. She had a feeling she was being followed. She suspected that someone was following her.

Number 2 can only mean:

She felt as if she were being followed. [STRIKE][(But she was not.)][/STRIKE]

She didn't think anyone was actually following her, but whatever was really happening had a similar feeling. It was a feeling like the feeling of being followed.

------

Am I right?

Almost.

Was is concrete.

Were is hypothetical.

As if introduces a simile.


NOTE: Sentences must always start with capital letters — never with digits.

 

[emsr2d2]

Here's a context in which I, who am a native speaker, might say or write it. See if you find it imaginable.

A: She says she was being followed by a stranger.
B: What makes her so sure she was?
A: Women's intuition. She felt herself to be being followed by a stranger.

It's grammatical but I can't imagine anyone saying it. A standard everyday conversation (BrE) would be

A. She says she was being followed by a stranger.
B: What made her think that?
A: Intuition. She just felt it.

 

[Phaedrus]

It's grammatical but I can't imagine anyone saying it. A standard everyday conversation (BrE) would be

A. She says she was being followed by a stranger.
B: What made her think that?
A: Intuition. She just felt it.

I think what makes She felt herself to be being followed by a stranger a fringe case (that is, a sentence which is possible and grammatical but which is atypical enough to be dissed by some ESL grammar forum moderators as unimaginable in live native usage) is simply that the progressive passive in infinitival clauses (to be being V-ed; to have been being V-ed) strains the ear (and tongue) a bit and is not commonly used by the native speaker when other, less cumbersome constructions are at the ready.

Native speakers are, for example, unlikely to say things like She seems to be being followed by a stranger or She seems to have been being followed by a stranger when they can say It seems she is being followed by a stranger or It seems she was being followed by a stranger instead. Nevertheless, as you agree, the progressive passive is possible within infinitival clauses, and is sometimes even used by native speakers within such clauses. Incidentally, felt in my dissed sentence can be replaced by believed.

It was not a love of the atypical that led me to bring up the two constructions I did. They come closest to the grammar our learner was experimenting with.

 

[kadioguy]

Was is concrete.

Were is hypothetical.

As if introduces a simile.

Thank you for the reply, Charlie Bernstein.

My post in #12 is a reference to the following:

Practical English Usage 3rd ed.

74

As if and as though are both used to say what a situation seems like. They can refer to something that we think may be true.

It looks as if/though it's going to rain.

It sounds as if/though John's going to change his job.

They can also be used to talk about things which we know are not true.

I feel as if/though I'm dying.

She was acting as if/though she was in charge.

When we talk about things which we know are not true, we can use a past tense with a present meaning after as if/though. This emphasises the meaning of unreality. Compare:

- She looks as if she is rich. (Perhaps she is.)

He talks as if he was rich. (But he is definitely not.)

- You look as though you know each other.

Why is he looking at me as though he knew me? I've never seen him before.

In a formal style, were can be used instead of was in an 'unreal' comparison. This is common in American English.

He talks as if he were rich.

 

[kadioguy]

I don't agree. She felt as if she was being being followed and She felt as if she were being followed mean exactly the same thing. In neither case is the 'being followed' concrete.

The only difference between them is that the first, preferred by many speakers of Ame and some speakers of BrE, uses the subjunctive form for this non-factual situation. The second uses the indicative - many speakers of BrE have abandoned the subjunctive. The change of mood, however, is arbitrary - it does not change the message.

1. Should they be "the second (were) ... uses the subjunctive form for this non-factual situation" and "the first (was) uses the indicative"?

2. If the "was" one is also used for a non-factual situation, then how can we say it if we want to use "as if" to describe a situation happening in the past which we think it may be factual?

 

[GoesStation]

2. If the "was" one is also used for a non-factual situation, then how can we say it if we want to use "as if" to describe a situation happening in the past which we think it may be factual?

You can add an adverb: If it really was….

 

[kadioguy]

You can add an adverb: If it really was….

Do you mean this?

She felt as if she really was being followed.

In this case it may be factual?

 

[GoesStation]

Do you mean this?

She felt as if she really was being followed.

In this case it may be factual?

She's determining whether it's factual or not.

 

[emsr2d2]

In this case, might it [STRIKE]may[/STRIKE] be factual?

If she's trying to determine/decide if it's true, she would say something like "I feel like I'm being followed. It's driving me mad. I've got to work out if I really am [being followed]."