Past or present tense

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01cite10Anonymous12cite10Both events are in the future: 12br
12br
11i10"I thought they were playing Arsenal this week."12i12br
12br
11i10"I thought they are playing Arsenal this week."12i12br
12br
10Can both sentences be used and is there a different in me

0 Thanks. Would this be an example of sloppy grammar? Because I think I've heard a sentence along the lines of "He's acting as if he was the president" plenty of times (even though I assume "He's acting as if he is the President" is the correct version). So is the "as if he was the president" version grammatically incorrect? 0-

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01cite10Anonymous12cite10 Thanks. Would this be an example of sloppy grammar? Because I think I've heard a sentence along the lines of "He's acting as if he was the president" plenty of times (even though I assume "He's acting as if he is the President" is the correct version). So is the "as if he was the president" version grammatically incorr

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01cite10Yoong Liat12cite10He's walking as if he 11b10was/were12b10 drunk. (This means that he is not drunk, but walks like a person who is drunk.) 12br
12br
10He's walking as if he i11b10s12b10 drunk. (This means that he is drunk, and walks the way a person walks when s/he is dru

0 I'm sometimes a bitconfused about whether or not tenses have to agree or if the current condition is more important. Take this sentence for example:02br
01i00"Who'd have thought that he was/is a Communist."02i00 (he still is one) So do I use was or is here? 0-

0Hi Avangi02br
02br
01i00I must disagree with your analysis of your last example. I believe context overrides syntax here, because (according to your sentence) you 01b00know02b00 he's acting. Therefore your last two sentences could be written, "He's acting as if he 01b00was/were/is02b00 the president."02i00 0

0 Hi Anonymous,02br
00the reason is simple. After verbs like "thought", or "knew", etc., using the past tense is idiomatic. That's why you should say:02br
01b00I thought they were going to play!02b00 (not ...they are going...)02br
01b00Who would have thought he was a communist!02b00 (not ...he is a communist...)02br

0Great post, Kooyeen.0-

0 Thanks, that has cleared up a lot of questions.0-

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01cite10Yoong Liat12cite11i10I must disagree with your analysis of your last example. I believe context overrides syntax here, because (according to your sentence) you 11b10know12b10 he's acting. Therefore your last two sentences could be written, "He's acting as if he 11b10was/were/is12b10