feel as if I were ~ing/feel as if I am ~ing

Question

0 In the situation where you want to express your feeling using "as if/like" with an event that is not happening in reality, I am confused about the use of the "be" verb.02br02br00I feel as if I were dying./  I feel as if I am dying.02br00I almost feel like I were daydreaming./ I almost feel like I am daydreaming.02br00It feels like he is ~ /It feels like I were~/02br02br00I've heard all of the above.  02br00Could anybody explain if those are formal ways especially the ones using the present be-verb?02br00And if they are indeed correct, what is the difference in the interpretation if there is any?02br02br00I know there must have been similar topics before.  I did do search, spent 10min on it and gave it up. Thus if this is a duplicated topic, I apologize for my impatience. 0-

Ant_222 · Accepted Answer

0 I think that due to it's being an unreal condition "were" should be used. 0-

Marius Hancu · Answer

0 Use "were" for anything unreal/impossible/counterfactual, in formal writing.  0-

Marius Hancu · Answer

0 01pre

00See:02br
02br
00Subjunctive02br
05002br
02br
00Conditional Tutorial02br
05102pre

00 0230hrefhttp://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxsubjun.html231hrefhttp://www.englishpage.com/conditional/conditionalintro.html

Sashasaski · Answer

0 I thank you both for the quick responses.02br
00And thank you Marius Hanchu for the link.02br
02br
00So using the present tense in this case, can I say it is incorrect? or is it accepted as informal alternative?02br
02br
00I know in these days "was" in place of "were" can be used. 0-

Kooyeen · Answer

0 Hi, 02br
00that's a common source of confusion. This is what I learned:02br
02br
01b01i00He's running as if he's being chased by a tiger.02i02b00 (He's running as people run when they are chased by tigers. It seems he's being chased by a tiger)02br
01b01i00He's running as if he were being chased by a tiger.02i02b00 (He's running as people run when they are chased by tigers. It seems he's being chased by a tiger. Same as above then, but here the past tense puts emphasis on the fact that you don't think he's really chased by a tiger. Apart from that, it means the same)02br
02br
00Notice that neither of the examples above imply that he's really being chased by a tiger, or that you think he's really being chased by a tiger. It just seems so.02br
00PS: I'm not a native speaker.02br
050010id1

Ant_222 · Answer

0 «He's running as if he's being chased by a tiger»02br
02br
00According the link (the first one) Marius gave it's not correct... 0-

Kooyeen · Answer

0 Ah, I forgot about "like".02br
02br
00 You can use "like" instead of "as if", it's very common when used with present tenses, and it means exactly the same.02br
00 There are still people who could tell you that "like" is not acceptable in place of "as if", so if you are taking an exam or you are in a situation in which you might be judged by your English, you'd better use "as if".02br
050010id1

Marius Hancu · Answer

0 00As if / like: 02br
05000 040pid277035

Ant_222 · Answer

0 «He's running as if he's being chased by a tiger»02br
02br
00I mean, is present subjunctive ok here? 0-

Marius Hancu · Answer

0 01blockquote

01cite10Ant_22212cite10«He's running as if he's being chased by a tiger» I mean, is present subjunctive ok here?12blockquote

12br
00 If there are no tigers around: use "were," esp in formal context. (impossible situation)02br
00 If there are tigers around: use the other. (possible situation)0-

feel as if I were ~ing/feel as if I am ~ing

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