Word
Dans cette soirée mondaine, tout le monde agit comme s'il dissimulait sa vraie identité.
Meaning
At this high-society party, everyone acts as if they were concealing their true identity.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Dans cette soirée mondaine, tout le monde agit comme s'il dissimulait sa vraie identité.
il
he
dans
in, inside
vrai
true
ce
this (before a noun)
Questions & Answers about Dans cette soirée mondaine, tout le monde agit comme s'il dissimulait sa vraie identité.
Why is dissimulait in the imperfect tense when the first verb (agit) is in the present?
This is the classic rule for comme si (as if). To express an unreal or hypothetical comparison happening at the same time as the main verb, French uses comme si followed by the imperfect tense (l'imparfait). Even though the party is happening in the present, they aren't actually concealing their identities, so the imperfect is required.
The English translation says 'as if they were', so why does the French use s'il (as if he were)?
Why is the possessive adjective sa used instead of leur for 'their true identity'?
Why is the 'i' dropped in s'il?