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Le snob a méprisé notre cadeau comme s'il dissimulait un grand secret.

Le snob a méprisé notre cadeau comme s'il dissimulait un grand secret.
The snob despised our gift as if he were concealing a big secret.
From Lesson 366:Unreal comparisons (comme si)·French

Questions & Answers about Le snob a méprisé notre cadeau comme s'il dissimulait un grand secret.

Why is dissimulait in the imparfait (imperfect) instead of the conditional tense?
After comme si (as if), you must use the imparfait to describe a hypothetical situation happening at the same time as the main action. Even though it feels like a conditional idea, French grammar strictly forbids using the conditional tense directly after si in these structures.
Since the main action (a méprisé) is in the past, why don't we use the plus-que-parfait (pluperfect) after comme si?
The tense following comme si depends on its timing relative to the main verb. We use the imparfait here because the hypothetical action (concealing a secret) is imagined as happening at the exact same time he despised the gift. You would only use the plus-que-parfait if the hypothetical action took place before the main action.
Why does si become s' in comme s'il? Does it do this before all vowels?
No, the word si only drops its 'i' before il and ils. If the snob had been a woman, you would write comme si elle without any apostrophe. Watch out for this, as it is a very common trap!
Could the il in comme s'il refer to notre cadeau instead of le snob?
Grammatically, yes! Since both le snob and le cadeau are masculine nouns, il could technically mean 'it' (the gift). However, context and common sense tell us it translates to 'he', since a person is much more likely to actively conceal a secret than an inanimate gift is.
Does mépriser mean 'to misunderstand' or 'to make a mistake'?
It is easy to confuse mépriser with the verb se méprendre (to be mistaken or to misunderstand). However, mépriser means to despise, look down on, or hold in contempt. The snob didn't just misunderstand the gift; he actively looked down on it.

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