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Jackson6612 Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

He looked as if he were/is fifteen or sixteen.

1b01font00He looked as if he 01i00were02i00 fifteen or sixteen.02font02b02br
02br
00Can't the above sentence be written as:02br
02br
01font00He looked as if he 01b01i00is02i02b00 fifteen or sixteen02font00?02br
02br
00If we cannot then what is the main reason?0-
  

Top answer

12br 12br 12blockquote 10 01b 01font 00I would use 'were', the subjunctive mood to express a contrary-to-fact situation. This is, of course, if the person definitely was NOT 15 or 16. 02font 02b 0-

— Philip

  • 12br 12br 12blockquote 10 01b 01font 00I would use 'were', the subjunctive mood to express a contrary-to-fact situation.
  • This is, of course, if the person definitely was NOT 15 or 16.
  • 02font 02b 0-
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25 Answers
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Jackson661212cite12br
11b11font10He looked as if he 11i10were12i10 fifteen or sixteen.12font12b12br
12br
10Can't the above sentence be written as:12br
12br
11font10He looked as if he
0
0
1blockquote
00If we cannot then what is the main reason?12blockquote
10Hi,02br
01b00He said he is fifteen.02br
00He said he was fifteen.02b02br
00Both possible, but if you consider...02br
01b00He looked as if he is fifteen02b00, it doesn't sound good because "looked as if" refers
0
0
0I was told that 01i00were02i00 is used instead of 01i00was02i00 after 01i00as if 02i00but check the following sentence:02br
02br
01font00He was eating like as if there 01b01i00was02i02b00 no tomorrow.02font02br
02hr
0
0
1b00102b00: 01font00He was eating 01b00like as if02b00 there 01b01i00is02i02b00 no tomorrow.02font02br
02br
01b00202b00: 01font00He was eating l01b00ike as if t02b00here 01b01
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Yoong Liat12cite11b10112b10: 11font10He was eating 11b10like as if12b10 there 11b11i10is12i12b10 no tomorrow.12font12br
12br
11b10212b10: 11font
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Philip12cite11blockquote
11cite20Yoong Liat22cite21b20122b20: 21font20He was eating 21b20like as if22b20 there 21b21i20is22i22b20 no tomorrow.22font22br
22br
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Jackson661212cite11b11u10Question 1:12u12b12br
12br
10I was told that 11i10were12i10 is used instead of 11i10was12i10 after 11i10as if 12i10but check the following sentence:12br
12br
11font
0
0
1b00>102b00: 01font00He was eating like as if there 01b01i00is02i02b00 no tomorrow.02br
00 I don't think this is correct. 02br
02font0-
0
0
1font00Question 2 has already been answered.02font02br
01font00What is difference between the meaning of the following sentences:02font02br
02br
01font001: He was eating 01b00like as if02b00 there 01i00is02i00 no tomorro
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Jackson661212cite11b11u10Question 3:12u12b12br
12br
11font10What is difference between the meaning of the following sentences:12font12br
12br
11font101: He was eating like as if there 11i10
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