as if는 어떻게 듣고/보고/느꼈는지를 표현할 때 사용합니다:
That house looks as if it's going to fall down.
Ann sounded as if she had a cold, didn't she?
I've just come back from vacation, but I feel tired and depressed. I don't feel as if I've just had a vacation.
비교해보세요:
You look tired. (look + 형용사)
You look as if you didn't sleep last night. (look + as if + 주어 + 동사)
이 표현들은 다음과 같이 활용할 수 있습니다:
Sandra is very late, isn't she? It looks like she isn't coming.
We took an umbrella with us because it looked as if it was going to rain.
Do you hear that music next door? It sounds like they're having a party.
It smells as though someone has been smoking in here.
어떻게 했는지를 이야기할 때 like / as if / as though는 다른 동사와 함께 사용합니다:
He ran like he was running for his life.
After the interruption, the speaker went on talking as if nothing had happened.
When I told them my plan, they looked at me as though I was crazy.
현재를 이야기할 때 종종 as if 뒤에 과거 형을 사용합니다:
I don't like Norma. She talks as if she knew everything.
이 문장의 의미는 과거가 아닙니다. 여기에서 과거를 사용하는 이유는 아이디어가 실제가 아니기 때문입니다. Norma는 모든 것을 알지 못합니다. 같은 의미로 if와 wish도 과거 형과 함께 사용합니다. (see unit 36):
She's always asking me to do things for her - as if I didn't have enough to do. (I do have enough to do.)
Harry's only 40. Why do you talk about him as if he was an old man? (He isn't an old man.)
이와 같은 방식으로 과거 형을 사용할 때는 was 대신 were를 사용해도 됩니다:
Why do you talk about him as if he were (or was) an old man?
They treat me as if I were (or was) their own son. (I'm not their son.)
이와 같은 유형의 문장에는 like와 as though는 잘 사용하지 않습니다.