Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

He acts as if he knew everything.=He acts as if he knows everything.

Could anyone point out the difference?

Thanks

[bud]

Perhaps there is some small technical difference (I really don't know), but in everyday language they are the same. It's just that two different tenses are being used to say the same thing.

[asterix]

If you use, knew, you need acted. You need to keep the tenses consistent.
So, he acts as if he knows everything, is grammatically correct.
He acted as if he knew everything, is grammatically correct.

But, he acts as if he knew everything , is grammatically incorrect, but, as Bud says, you hear it all the time.