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Sb70012 Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

She is an engineer but she talks as though she ……… a physician .

She is an engineer but she talks as though she ……… a physician .
a)were/was (Answer Key)
b)has been
c)is
d)would be

School exam

Hello,
I am stuck in this question. Some native English speakers say that only A is correct and some others say that both A and C are correct. What's your opinion?
According to this construction [is] is never possible to me:

1. (as if / as though + are and is) = (real/true condition/character)
2. (as if / as though + were and was) = (unreal/false condition/character)

If you click here, you will see my question: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2968017

Thank you.
  

Top answer

In careful language, (a) is best. In everyday usage you may well hear (c) (though usually it would be contracted to "she's").

— GPY

  • In careful language, (a) is best.
  • In everyday usage you may well hear (c) (though usually it would be contracted to "she's").
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12 Answers
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In careful language, (a) is best. In everyday usage you may well hear (c) (though usually it would be contracted to "she's").
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GPY In everyday usage you may well hear (c).
She is an engineer but she talks as though she is a physician.
But the sentence is intended to express irrealis, doesn't it?
If you use the red part, then how would you understand whether it means she is real
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sb70012If you use the red part, then how would you understand whether it means she is really a physician or she is faking?
It says that she is an engineer.
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sb70012If you use the red part, then how would you understand whether it means she is really a physician or she is faking?
As though is an idiom, meaning as if. It introduces an unreal condition.
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/
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AlpheccaStarsAs though is an idiom, meaning as if. It introduces an unreal condition.
I don't think this is always true with indicative verbs. For example, in a hospital, "See that man over there who looks as if/though he's a doctor". Quite probably he is a doctor.
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I Think in the case of as if/though conditional form, the answer is what GPY said in the first answer.
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GPYI don't think this is always true with indicative verbs.
Sorry, I was not very clear. I meant in the sentence under discussion.

It is subtle, though. In the following sentence, he is probably not a doctor.

"See that man over there who is acting as if/though he were a doctor".
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I agree with khoshtip and GPY. The problem offered was 'polluted' by including
a) were/was (Answer Key) - by sb70012

The answer key presumably didn't include "was", only "were"; making it the correct choice.
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wilpeterThe answer key presumably didn't include "was", only "were"; making it the correct choice.
It quite possibly did. For many speakers of BrE, 'was' is acceptable these days for irrealis situations.
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fivejedjonIt quite possibly did.
If you click on the link that sb70012 gave, it shows that the other site was given a different option.
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