A Werewas Attacked

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I'm stumped.

"Felix, so relaxed and so comfortable with the situation, felt as if he himself were/was also in a warming bath."

Without changing words around, which one and why?

were or was ?

I'm leaning towards 'were' as it 'sounds' correct but it's 3-P-O perspective, and I think 'was' would be correct English.

grrr.
 
<retracted>
Too bad Anglish no longer supports singular thou vs plural you. A modern plural you would be youse or y'all. Language rot!
 
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"He was" is correct. "They were" would be correct, He or she or I 'was'. You or they or we 'were'. Was is singular, were is plural, and 'you' is either. Too bad Anglish no longer supports singular thou vs plural you. A modern plural you would be youse or y'all. Language rot!

That's what I thought, but I think I'm gling to mess this one up on purpose, because:
"...as if he himself was also in a warming bath."

does not sound as good phonetically as:
"...as if he himself were also in a warming bath."

I dunno, would this annoy the Grammar Nerds? or does it work either way?
 
I'm stumped.

"Felix, so relaxed and so comfortable with the situation, felt as if he himself were/was also in a warming bath."

Without changing words around, which one and why?

were or was ?

I'm leaning towards 'were' as it 'sounds' correct but it's 3-P-O perspective, and I think 'was' would be correct English.

grrr.

Believe it or not, verbs have moods just like you do. English has verbs with moods ranging from commanding to questioning and beyond. The mood of the verb "to be" when you use the phrase "I were" is called the subjunctive mood, and you use it for times when you're talking about something that isn't true or you're being wishful.

Given that Felix is being wishful about the bath, then "were" is the correct use of the subjunctive verbs was & were in this case.
 
As if calls for the subjunctive tense therefore, were. e.g "If i were a carpenter."
 
You just blew my mind.

When I posted what I did, I thought to myself I bet whoever posts after me is the one who gets thanked, even though I answered the question first. The internet never disappoints does it.
 
When I posted what I did, I thought to myself I bet whoever posts after me is the one who gets thanked, even though I answered the question first. The internet never disappoints does it.

Technically, the question isn't answered definitively.
 
Then in case you didn't understand, I will answer it definitely. If one uses "as if" one must use the subjunctive 'were'. The subjunctive is usually referred to as mood. Nonetheless, The phrase "as if" causes a situation which has not yet or may never occur. That is the definition of 'subjunctive'. One may still write whatever one wishes, but the proper answer is:"He felt as if he himself were in a warming bath."


As though; in a manner suggesting.  [quotations ▼]
The old man stumbled, as if he were about to fall.
In mimicry of.
When the teacher's back was turned, the class clown would hold his stomach as if he were ill.
Translations[edit]
 
Awesome.

So: To make it complicated:

If I were to change the 'as if' to 'like' then it would 'were' still be the correct word?

How could the sentence be constructed or what would need to change to use 'was' correctly?

Or, by using 'like' in place of 'as if' then is 'was' correct since it 'is occuring'?
 
'Like' would not be the correct usage in this sentence. Like means "resemble" or" favor": See Strunk and White. He looked like a monkey.*(resembled)

You would not say he resembled himself in the bath. To properly use 'was' the event would have had to actually occurred. "Yesterday he was in the bath." It is not the words 'as if' that call for the subjunctive but that the act might not or will never occur or did never occur. If the event actiualy occurred, then one could use 'was' i. e. "He had an immense hardon while he was in the hot tub." Hence it must always be: " If I were you, because 'you' never will be 'me'.
 
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Well, here, I thought of this: "he felt like he had (felt) yesterday when he was in the tub." Because in this case he felt like(similar)to how he had felt yesterday when the event had actually occurred.
 
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