0
Meowmechon Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Which sentence is correct ?
1. I have been treating this matter as if it hadn't been serious enough.
2. I have been treating this matter as if it hasn't been serious enough.
3. I have been treating this matter as if it wasn't serious enough.
Can someone point out the right one and with some little elaboration supplemented ? Thanks !
2. I have been treating this matter as if it hasn't been serious enough.
3. I have been treating this matter as if it wasn't serious enough.
Can someone point out the right one and with some little elaboration supplemented ? Thanks !
Top answer
I have been treating this matter as if it weren't (informally - wasn't) very serious. )
- I have been treating this matter as if it weren't (informally - wasn't) very serious.
- )
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
7 Answers
0
I have been treating this matter as if it weren't (informally - wasn't) very serious. (I thought it was not serious enough for special consideration.)
00
Using 'hadn't' is incorrect because it conflicts with the present perfect tense of the sentence. 'Had' is for something that started and ended in the past. In any case, using any form of have is incorrect here, which will suggest that the matter is yet to become serious.
00
00
Past perfect does not fit here.
It has to be some unreal condition in the past, eg
If it had been more serious, I would have treated it differently.
Another use is for an action that is earlier than some other action
I had been treating it as if it weren't very serious, but the situation changed after we did some more investigation.
It has to be some unreal condition in the past, eg
If it had been more serious, I would have treated it differently.
Another use is for an action that is earlier than some other action
I had been treating it as if it weren't very serious, but the situation changed after we did some more investigation.
00
Thank you for your reply and explanation again !
But I'm still somewhat confused. As far as I may recall, "as if" as a simile, which I applied in the sentence to indicate the matter is actually serious, seems to require past perfect tense when the event is set in the past, for instance here, "She looked at me as if she'd had some bad news."(from dictionary). Given the example, wouldn't th
But I'm still somewhat confused. As far as I may recall, "as if" as a simile, which I applied in the sentence to indicate the matter is actually serious, seems to require past perfect tense when the event is set in the past, for instance here, "She looked at me as if she'd had some bad news."(from dictionary). Given the example, wouldn't th
00
Thank you for your kindly reply, Pathfinder1992 !
I understand the relativity of time in using past present, but what I truly don't understand is the application of simile, as in "She looked as if she'd had some bad news" from a dictionary. With rather similar structure, I can't see the reason why the previous sentence is accepted, while "I have been treating..." or "I have treated..."(in
I understand the relativity of time in using past present, but what I truly don't understand is the application of simile, as in "She looked as if she'd had some bad news" from a dictionary. With rather similar structure, I can't see the reason why the previous sentence is accepted, while "I have been treating..." or "I have treated..."(in
00
She looked at me as if she'd had some bad news.
This is not an unreal condition; everything is true here.
The expression on her face was really shock and unhappiness because she had (before she looked at me) received bad news or something equally dismaying.
So there are two events: "she looked" and "she received bad news" where the bad news happens before the look. The p
This is not an unreal condition; everything is true here.
The expression on her face was really shock and unhappiness because she had (before she looked at me) received bad news or something equally dismaying.
So there are two events: "she looked" and "she received bad news" where the bad news happens before the look. The p
0
Related Questions