as if

Question

The sentence

'At nine years old, he felt as if the weight of a mountain were on his shoulders." Subjunctive of the present

If he is 50 years old now, does the sentence mean that the weight is still on the person?

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

No, nothing is said about how he feels now.
CB

HeloOO · Answer

'At nine years old, he felt as if the weight of a mountain were on his shoulders.'

If he is 50 years old now, shouldn't past subjunctive be used because he is no longer nine years old ?

'At nine years old, he felt as if the weight of a mountain had been on his shoulders.'

Cool Breeze · Answer

heloOO'At nine years old, he felt as if the weight of a mountain were on his shoulders.'

If he is 50 years old now, shouldn't past subjunctive be used because he is no longer nine years old ?

'At nine years old, he felt as if the weight of a mountain had been on his shoulders.'

In theory, yes. In practice, many people say were because it's shorter and everybody understands from the context what is meant.
CB

CalifJim · Answer

as if ... were and as if ... had been do not indicate absolute time, but relative time with respect to the time of the main clause.
were is simultaneous with the time in the main clause.
had been is previous to the time in the main clause.
At nine years old, he felt (past) as if the weight of a mountain were (at the same time in the past) on his shoulders.
At nine years old, he felt (past) as if the weight of a mountain had been (previous to this time in the past) on his shoulders.
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Mike spoke as if he were seeing a ghost. It seemed that Mike was seeing a ghost at the same time as he was speaking.
Mike spoke as if he had seen a ghost. It seemed that Mike had previously seen a ghost by the time he began speaking.
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The old man moved about as if he were ill. The man seemed to be ill at the time he was observed moving about.

The old man moved about as if he had been ill. It seemed that the man had previously been ill (and was still weak, though recovered from that previous illness).
CJ

as if

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