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The last poll we posted was as follows:
She acts as if she ________ everything.
A- knows
B- knew
C- both 'A' and 'B'
How can we decide which is the correct answer? 🤔
🔸 The phrase "as if she ______ everything" is a subordinate clause that is a part of a bigger sentence "She acts......" . This subordinate clause depends on the main clause ["She acts"] to make sense.
🔸 The expression "as if" introduces a condition that is hypothetical (unreal). It often triggers the use of the subjunctive mood, which deals with wishes, or conditions contrary to reality or fact.
🔸 The subjunctive mood in such contexts is usually formed using the past tense for, of the verb, even when the main verb is in the present tense.
👉 "He talks as if he were a king."
"He talks" = indicative mood (reality)
"he were a king" = subjunctive mood (not real / contrary to fact)
Back to our example:
A- "knows" [ indicative mood - closer to fact ]
She acts as someone who actually knows everything.
B- "knew" [ subjunctive mood - contrary to fact ]
She imagines / thinks she knows everything.
Grammatically, "knew" is more appropriate after "as if" but, in everyday English, the indicative mood is commonly used.
🔸 People often say things like: "He acts as if he owns the place."
🤔 Since he doesn't actually own the place, it should be subjunctive mood verb [owned], but the common use after "as if" nowadays is the indicative mood verb [owns], especially for real-world comparisons.
Thus, both 'A' and 'B' are correct here. There is a slight grammatical difference between the two in terms of their formality.
A- knows ✅
B- knew ✅
Kudos to those who chose "C- both 'A' and 'B'".
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