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MarvinTheMartian Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
"pretend I'm" or "pretend I was"
Hi,
This may sound a bit stupid, but I can't decide whether to use "pretend I'm" or "pretend I was" in the example below. From a grammatical standpoint, "prentend I was" seems to be more correct. Somehow, however, I feel "pretend I'm" is more natural here and fits the informal nature of the utterance better. What do you think?
"Wow! I want that car!" exclaimed the young man. "Then, I could pretend I'm / I was a big shot and impress all the girls in school."
This may sound a bit stupid, but I can't decide whether to use "pretend I'm" or "pretend I was" in the example below. From a grammatical standpoint, "prentend I was" seems to be more correct. Somehow, however, I feel "pretend I'm" is more natural here and fits the informal nature of the utterance better. What do you think?
"Wow! I want that car!" exclaimed the young man. "Then, I could pretend I'm / I was a big shot and impress all the girls in school."
Top answer
Both seem fine to me.
- Both seem fine to me.
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3 Answers
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Wow! I want that car!" exclaimed the young man. "Then, I could pretend I'm / I was a big shot and impress all the girls in school."
I think I'd have to say: "Then, I could pretend I was a big shot and impress all the girls in school."
The sequence of tenses seems to demand it. Change the could to can and it becomes:
Then I can pretend
I think I'd have to say: "Then, I could pretend I was a big shot and impress all the girls in school."
The sequence of tenses seems to demand it. Change the could to can and it becomes:
Then I can pretend
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If the condition still obtains into the present, Tom, the tense needn't regress. Here I see that, potentially at least, he would like to be a big shot into all futurity.
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If the condition still obtains into the present, Tom, the tense needn't regress. Here I see that, potentially at least, he would like to be a big shot into all futurity.
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