NDA (II) 2017 GAT Q41: He looks as if he _____

Q: What is the answer to NDA (II) 2017 GAT Q41?

D. Correct — D, were. After 'as if' and 'as though', English uses the past subjunctive to make an imagined comparison, and that form is 'were' for every subject, so the sentence reads 'He looks as if he were weary.'

NDA (II) 2017 General Ability Test · Question 41 of 150

Question text verified against the official NDA question paper.

He looks as if he _____ weary.

(a)is
(b)was
(c)would be
(d)were

Answer

Why

Correct — D, were. After 'as if' and 'as though', English uses the past subjunctive to make an imagined comparison, and that form is 'were' for every subject, so the sentence reads 'He looks as if he were weary.'

Why the others are wrong

(a)is — The plain present is heard in relaxed modern speech when the speaker takes the comparison to be true, but the pattern this item tests is the traditional one, which calls for the subjunctive after 'as if'.
(b)was — 'Was' is the ordinary past of 'be'; in the imagined comparison the form required is 'were', whatever the subject.
(c)would be — 'As if' already carries the unreal force, so a second marker of unreality is not added, and 'as if he would be weary' is not English.

Concept

'As if' and 'as though' introduce a comparison with something imagined, and the verb after them takes the form 'were'.

It is worth being honest about the usage here. Everyday English now allows 'He looks as if he is weary' when the speaker believes the man really is tired, and careful writers keep 'were' for a comparison that is plainly untrue. Examinations of this kind, and this key, follow the older rule, so 'were' is the form to choose.

Key facts

'Were' after 'as if' is used with I, he, she and it, not only with plural subjects.
The same form appears after 'wish' and in unreal statements beginning with 'if' — 'I wish I were taller'.
'As though' behaves in exactly the same way as 'as if'.

Study next

The past subjunctive 'were''As if' and 'as though'Unreal statements after 'wish'

Common traps

Choosing 'was' because the subject is singular.

Asked as a blank-filling item testing the verb form that follows 'as if'.

Related PYQs

NDA_GAT_2016_II_Q482016Open & attempt →

If I were a millionaire, I <u>would have helped</u> the poor.

(a) am capable of helping
(b) could have helped
(c) would help
(d) NO IMPROVEMENT

Answer(c) would help

Same family — the unreal pattern built on 'were'. There the stem already supplies 'If I were' and the test is which form the other half of the sentence takes; here the test is choosing 'were' itself, after 'as if'.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the word that best fills the blank — She talks as if she ____ the owner of the house.
- (a)is
- (b)was
- (c)were
- (d)would be
Answer(c) were — 'as if' takes the past subjunctive whatever the subject.
practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the word that best fills the blank — I wish I ____ able to help you today.
- (a)were
- (b)was
- (c)am
- (d)would be
Answer(a) were — 'wish' takes the same past subjunctive form.