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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

As if/ had been

Stella didn't see the movie, but she described it 'as if she had seen it'.

Stella didn't see the movie, but she described it 'as if she saw it'.

I'm told the first one is more correct. And while I would be more likely to use the first, i would like to know why the second is less desirable (or just plain wrong).

Thanks!
  

Top answer

-- This makes it clear that the seeing (real or not) happened before the description. This is the normal situation. -- This says that the seeing (real or not) happened at the same time as the description: that is, Stella is viewing the movie (real or not) as she speaks.

— Mister Micawber

  • -- This makes it clear that the seeing (real or not) happened before the description.
  • This is the normal situation.
  • -- This says that the seeing (real or not) happened at the same time as the description: that is, Stella is viewing the movie (real or not) as she speaks.
  • This is possible grammatically, but very unlikely in meaning.
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3 Answers
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Stella didn't see the movie, but she described it as if she had seen it.-- This makes it clear that the seeing (real or not) happened before the description. This is the normal situation.

Stella didn't see the movie, but she described it as if she saw it.-- This says that the seeing (real or not) happened at the same time as the description: that is, Stella is viewing the movie
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Hi.

You wrote:

Stella didn't see the movie, but she described it as if she saw it.-- This says that the seeing (real or not) happened at the same time as the description: that is, Stella is viewing the movie (real or not) as she speaks. This is possible grammatically, but very unlikely in meaning.

Would you say the underlined part below shows that the utternace h
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Not really-- adding 'this morning' does not resolve the ambiguity: did Kim see the movie this morning or did she describe it this morning or both?
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