Korean Job Discussion Forums

[raewon]

I have a question about the following sentences:

(1) It looks as if it were going to snow. = In fact, it isn't going to snow.

(2) It looks as if it is going to snow. = In fact, it isn't going to snow.


Are both (1) and (2) possible, or should only (2) be used? If
(1) is possible, what is the grammatical name of that structure?

Thanks a lot.

[Hokie21]

1. doesn't sound right. I'm guessing you'd have to change "looks" to "looked"

[The Cosmic Hum]

[YTMND]

I agree with Hokie, should be looked. Also:

1. "looks as if" = "looks like" it will
2. "looked as if" = "looked like" it was

Now this brings up an interesting question.

3. It looked like the person was going to fly.
4. It looked as if the person were going to fly.

We usually use "were" for things that are less probable or impossible, like in example 4.

However, in this case "looked as if it were" apparently has the same meaning as "looked like it was". Anyone else have a different viewpoint? Why are "was" and "were" being used the same way? Is this simply overlap?

[The Cosmic Hum]

[Zackback]

Number 2 is the one to use colloquially--people might say both:

These are indicative sentences because of " It looks ........................................................................The "it looks" makes it present tense. So the main verb in both sentences is " It looks ."

The "as if it ................................................." is an adverbial subordinate clause introduced by the " as if" which serves as a subordinate conjunction in both (1) and (2).

The main verb in the second sentence ( 2) is also ' IT LOOKS and the word " not" is always an ADVERB when qualifying the verb. This verb is in the indicative tense.

The second part after the = of each starting with " In fact" are just simple sentences in the present tense (indicative) of the verb "is going" with the word " NOT" in the contraction " isn't " really being an ADVERB. ( Whenever a verb is contracted- that means put together in a shorter form with "not", not is still an adverb. The word "not" when contracted with a verb, NEVER becomes part of the verb grammatically --it is always considered an adverb !!!


" to snow" is an infinitive and is not the verb of any sentence.

Now the word "it" is also the subject of the subordinate adverbial clause but the "as if" in the samples introduce a possibility factor which technically calls for a subjunctive mood in the verb following, so the grammatically correct sentence is number ( 1 ) which shows the verb as " were" because you need a subjunctive mood .

[YTMND]

[sojusucks]

I see bad English all the time in text books and on tests. There are programs specifically designed to teach Korean teachers how to teach English (in Korean), but it seems these courses are not popular.