Making Comparisons with "comme si"
To say someone is pretending or to describe an unreal situation—like a social climber faking their way through a high-society masquerade—French uses comme si (as if / as though).
| as if | comme si |
When the hypothetical situation happens at the same time as the main action, comme si is followed by the imparfait (imperfect) tense. This is true even if the main verb is in the present tense.
Note that si drops its i and uses an apostrophe only before il or ils (comme s'il / comme s'ils).
| You behave as if you were the marquis! | Tu te comportes comme si tu étais le marquis ! |
| He despises us as if he belonged to the nobility. | Il nous méprise comme s'il faisait partie de la noblesse. |
If the main action is in the past, but the hypothetical comparison was happening at that exact same moment, you still use the imparfait.
| The snob strutted at the high-society gala as if he were rich. | Le snob se pavanait au gala mondain comme s'il était riche. |
Prior Actions with the Plus-que-parfait
Sometimes, people pretend about things in the past. If the unreal or hypothetical event happened before the main action, use the plus-que-parfait (pluperfect) tense after comme si.
| The marquis spoke about the house as if he had lost his own fortune. | Le marquis a parlé de la maison comme s'il avait perdu sa propre fortune. |
| In order not to appear ridiculous, the snob strutted as if he had won. | Pour ne pas paraître ridicule, le snob s'est pavané comme s'il avait gagné. |