0
Sunny Yen Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
Past Perfect and Subjunctive mood
1.I used to think that we could use past perfect to form sentences that are used to express past unreal comparisons. But Michael Swan's words confused me: note that we do not use a past perfect for a past unreal comparison. She looked as if she was rich, but she wasn’t. (NOT --- as if she had been rich.).
This seems weird to me. I thought the reason that we used past perfect for subjunctive mood was due to the fact that we use the verb "were" (or "was", in everyday conversations and writing) for a present unreal situation, so if we want to express a past counterfactual conditional sentence, in order to avoid confusion, we usually say something like "if he had been...he would have...". But now Michael Swan says that although the usage is fine with past counterfactual conditional sentences, you can not do so when you are forming a sentence for past unreal comparison.
2.Is it possible to form a past unreal sentence in which the content is about the future in the past? I'm pretty sure that we can write something like "He looked as if he was going to do a stage dive." (in which the mood of the sentence is not a subjunctive one), but is it possible to form a similar sentence in terms of the subjunctive mood?
I actually came up with three different sentences:
(1) He looked as if he had been going to do a stage dive. (But of course he wasn't, because the stage was so high that he might kill himself by doing so.)
-> This one seems pretty clunky and wrong to me.
(2) He looked as if he was going to do a stage dive, but he couldn't/ wasn't. (Because the stage was so high that he might kill himself by doing so.)
->This one seems more natural but still very wordy.
(3) He looked as if he had been about to do a stage dive. -> This one seems fine but I'm not sure whether or not the meaning has changed.
This seems weird to me. I thought the reason that we used past perfect for subjunctive mood was due to the fact that we use the verb "were" (or "was", in everyday conversations and writing) for a present unreal situation, so if we want to express a past counterfactual conditional sentence, in order to avoid confusion, we usually say something like "if he had been...he would have...". But now Michael Swan says that although the usage is fine with past counterfactual conditional sentences, you can not do so when you are forming a sentence for past unreal comparison.
2.Is it possible to form a past unreal sentence in which the content is about the future in the past? I'm pretty sure that we can write something like "He looked as if he was going to do a stage dive." (in which the mood of the sentence is not a subjunctive one), but is it possible to form a similar sentence in terms of the subjunctive mood?
I actually came up with three different sentences:
(1) He looked as if he had been going to do a stage dive. (But of course he wasn't, because the stage was so high that he might kill himself by doing so.)
-> This one seems pretty clunky and wrong to me.
(2) He looked as if he was going to do a stage dive, but he couldn't/ wasn't. (Because the stage was so high that he might kill himself by doing so.)
->This one seems more natural but still very wordy.
(3) He looked as if he had been about to do a stage dive. -> This one seems fine but I'm not sure whether or not the meaning has changed.
Top answer
Sunny Yen She looked as if she was rich, but she wasn’t. The first point to note is that the grammar for " as if" is not the same as for "if". You can find almost every tense after "as if".
- Sunny Yen She looked as if she was rich, but she wasn’t.
- The first point to note is that the grammar for " as if" is not the same as for "if".
- You can find almost every tense after "as if".
- The tense sequence need not be exactly the same as in a conditional sentence.
- By the way, you can have "were" instead of "was" in the given sentence.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
6 Answers
0
Sunny Yen She looked as if she was rich, but she wasn’t.The first point to note is that the grammar for "as if" is not the same as for "if". You can find almost every tense after "as if". The tense sequence need not be exactly the same as in a conditional sentence. By the way, you can have "were" instead of "was" in the given sentence. (as if sh
00
Thanks for the respond! I hope you won't mind if I ask more questions.
First:
Now I'm more curious. You said " You can find almost every tense after "as if". ". Does it mean that what Swan says in his book is not entirely correct, because past perfect is one of every tense?
Second:
May I say that on the basis of what you just said, there's actually nothing wrong with usi
First:
Now I'm more curious. You said " You can find almost every tense after "as if". ". Does it mean that what Swan says in his book is not entirely correct, because past perfect is one of every tense?
Second:
May I say that on the basis of what you just said, there's actually nothing wrong with usi
00
Sunny YenThanks for the respond! I hope you won't mind if I ask more questions.I don't mind, but I don't think I always follow the subtlety of your questions.
Sunny YenYou said " You can find almost every tense after "as if". ". Does it mean that what Swan says in his book is not entirely correct, because past perfect is one of every t
00
Thank you CJ. I still need some time to figure all this out, but your answer is indeed helpful. As a non-native English learner, I have been puzzled by questions of how to correctly understand subjunctive mood for quite a long time...
00
Sunny YenI have been puzzled by questions of how to correctly understand subjunctive mood for quite a long time.Don't obsess about the "real-unreal" distinction, especially as it involves "as if". I may be wrong, but it seems that most of your questions have more to do with time relationships than with "real-unreal" problems. In my opinion, "as if" is by de
00
CJ:
I guess my confusion arise from my treating the "as if" construction as the "if...would/will" construction. Since you have pointed it out, now I do understand that these two constructions are not exactly governed by the same set of grammar rules.
Given this, I can see why you said that He spoke as if he had been drunk implies that he had been drunk before he spoke. It is ju
I guess my confusion arise from my treating the "as if" construction as the "if...would/will" construction. Since you have pointed it out, now I do understand that these two constructions are not exactly governed by the same set of grammar rules.
Given this, I can see why you said that He spoke as if he had been drunk implies that he had been drunk before he spoke. It is ju
0
Related Questions