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Holding his head high, he walked past the pole and the soldiers as if they didn’t exist.
as if 与as though 是一组同义词，两者意思相同，用法也相同，只是在口语中人们多半会用as if, 取其简短。as if 和as though 用法较为复杂，本文拟对其各种用法做一概述。
1．在通常情况下， as if 和as though 所引导的从句的谓语动词多用虚拟语气，表示所叙述的情况与事实相反。具体用法如下：
1)谈论现在情形的，用过去时（动词be用were,也可用was）：
Why is she looking at me as though she knew me? 他为什么那样看我？像是认识我似的。
He behaves as if he owned the house. 他的样子好像他拥有这个房子。
He treats me as if /as though I were a stranger.
He speaks as if he were an Englishman.
It’s not as though he was /were poor.
2)谈论过去情形的动词形式有以下几种：
a)过去式，表示过去的状态，如：
He looked at me as if I were mad. 他那样看我，好像我是个疯子。
He stood there looking at the train and laughing, as if to miss a train was the best joke in the world. 他站在那里，望着火车哈哈大笑，好像误了火车是天底下最开心的事儿似的。
Mr. Coleman always talked as if he knew everything.
但是，如果状态动词带有持续时间状语，则用过去完成时：
They talked as if they had been friends for years. (高二册，第95页) (试比较：They had been friends for years.)
Now it is as though she had known Millie for years. (《现代英语用法词典》)
情态动词亦用过去时：
She felt as though she could hardly endure such a life. 她觉得简直无法忍受这样的生活。
b)过去完成时，表示过去的动作先于主句动词而发生或完成，如：
It was as if he had lost his last friend.
“I remember,” she tells her children now, “how wild his white hair looked——as if it had been electrified.”（高二册，第91页）
必须注意的时，在指过去的动作时，即使主句是现在时，as if 从句中的动词也要用过去完成时：
You look as if you’d seen a ghost. 你好像是见了鬼似的。
He talks about Rome as though he had been there himself. 他讲起罗马的情况来就好像他亲自到过那里似的。
c)过去进行时，表示动作正在进行：
He heard a noise, as if someone was breathing.（高一册，第211页）
He ran as if ghosts were chasing him.
I felt as if the ground were slipping beneath my feet. 我感到大地仿佛在脚下滑动。
d)过去将来时，表示将要发生的事态：
It looked as if it was going to snow. （高一册，第127页）
He opened his lips as if he would say something to you.
2. 如果as if后面的从句所表示的情况时真实的或很可能时真实的，则动词可以用陈述语气，在feel, look, seem smell, sound, taste之后尤其如此。试比较：F. T. Wood所著English Colloquial Idioms中的两个例子：
He walks as if he is drunk.
He walks as if he were drunk.
第一句表示“他已经醉了”，第2句则表示“他没有醉”。又如：
It looks as if it is going to rain.
It looks as if were going to rain.
第一例意味着快要下雨了，第二例则意味着不会下雨。再看其她例子：
There’s Hob, talking to the ticket-collector. It looks as if he hasn’t got a platform ticket. 那不，霍布正在同检票员说话，看样子还没弄到站台票。
You look as if you’ve been running. 你好像刚跑了一阵似的。
You look as if you know each other.
He looks as if he’s tired.
It looks/seems as if you’re right.
You have acted as if you like me.
It smells as if it is fresh. 闻起来很新鲜。
3. 随着语言的发展，as if 后面的从句即使反映的不是事实，也可以不用虚拟语气而用陈述语气，这主要出现在口语或不太正式的文体中。例如：
With the development of these new tools, it is as if man has suddenly become a millionaire of the mind. 随着这些新工具的发展，人好像突然间成为精神上的百万富翁似的。
Teen-agers may talk as if they know it all, but statistics tell a different story.
The “historical present” is sometimes used in narrative when we want to describe events vividly as if they are happening in our presence.
4. 在非正式文体（尤其是美国英语）中，可以用like做连词代替as if 和as though。例如：
It looks like it’s going to rain today.
She looks like she’ll win the race.
I love that boy like he was my son.
He looked like he needed someone to talk to, so we lent him an ear.
He sat there smiling like it was his birthday.
She started kissing me like we were on our honeymoon. 她开始吻我，好像是在度蜜月似的。
5. as if和as though从句中的省略
当as if和as though从句的主语与主句一致时，该主语和后面的动词可以省略。于是便出现下面几种结构：
1) as if +不定式
He opened his lips as if (he were) to make some reply.
The bee checked its forward speed, circled and then drifted slowly over the mirrorlike surface of the pool as if to admire its own reflection. 蜜蜂放慢飞行速度，转了几圈儿，然后在清澈如镜的水潭上空慢慢地飘过，似乎要欣赏它自己的倒影。
2) 不定式+形容词或形容词短语
Carrie felt as if unable to endure such a life. 嘉莉觉得似乎无法再忍受这种生活了。
He lay still for a long while, as if dead.
3) as if +介词短语
He looked about as if (he was) in search of something.
4) as if +现在分词
From time to time Jason turned round as though (he was) searching for someone.
John paused as if expecting Mary to speak. 约翰停下来，似乎是等玛丽开口。
Nevertheless, the bee kept exercising the wings slowly up and down, as though assessing the damage. 然而，那只蜜蜂仍然在不停地慢慢上下活动着它地翅膀，仿佛在估量着所受的损害。
5) as if +名词
He acts as if (he was) a fool.
6) as if +副词
He made that remark as if absently. 他好像是漫不经心地说了那句话。
6. 对as if-从句认识上的一个误区
对于as if 的用法，一些人的认识上存在着一个误区，即把as if从句中动词的形式与主句的时态相联系。如1993年第10期《英语自学》中《浅谈由as if (as though)和wish引出的虚拟语气就明确指出：“在由as if (as though)引出的表示虚拟语气的方式状语从句中，如果主句的谓语是一般时，那么其从句的谓语一般应该用动词的过去式 (be用were)；反之，如果主句的谓语用一般过去时，那么从句谓语一般用“had +过去分词”。这种认为从句动词形式受主句时态制约的观点是不符合语言实际的。实际上，as if和 as though后谓语动词的形式与主句时态无关。本文前面列举的一些例句足以证明这一点，《现代英语惯用法词典》上也有如下例句：
He looks as if he were ill.
He looked as if he were ill.
He looks as if he had been ill.
He looked as if he had been ill.
我们在前面也有过类似的例句。下面在提供一些主句用现在时而从句仍用过去完成时的例句：
A: We’ve been back at work now for three days. 我们回来上课到现在已三天了
B: I feel as if I had been back for three months. 我感到似乎已回来三个月了。
（比较：I have been back for three months.）
6. as if和as though的功能
1) 引导方式状语从句
They talked as if they had been friends for years.
2) 引导表语从句
He looked as if he had just stepped out of my book of fairy tales and had passed me like a spirit. (高二册，第92页)
3) 引导感叹句，表示对某种建议、假定、想象等的反对：
As if I cared! 好像我很在乎似的！（相当于：I don’t care!）
As if anyone would believe that story! 好像人人都会相信那种说法似的！
He warned me against associating with people of doubtful character. As if I ever should! 他告诫我不要同可疑的人来往，好像我真会那样做似的！
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