Unreal manner clauses (ca și cum, de parcă)

Pretending

When talking about scams, deception, or simply feigning a behavior, a useful starting point is the reflexive verb a se preface (to pretend).

Just like in English, this verb is followed by the conjunction că (that) and a standard indicative verb, describing the false reality someone is trying to project.

Unreal Manner Clauses: "As If"

To describe how someone behaves when they are faking it, you can use adverbial clauses of unreal manner. In Romanian, there are two common, interchangeable expressions for "as if":

• de parcă
• ca și cum

Because these expressions introduce hypothetical or completely unreal situations, they cannot be followed by the present tense. Instead, they require either the Conditional mood or the Imperfect tense.

Using the Conditional Mood

The most common and grammatically precise choice after de parcă and ca și cum is the Conditional mood. This mirrors the English subjunctive (e.g., "as if we were").

Let's look at it using the conditional forms of a fi (to be), such as am fi (we would be) or aș fi (I would be).

This structure works whether describing the present behavior of an everyday stranger or the actions of a police officer navigating a serious scam.

Using the Imperfect Tense

In everyday, spoken Romanian, it is also very common to use the Imperfect tense immediately following de parcă or ca și cum. Even though the Imperfect is a past tense, in this specific structure, it acts similarly to the conditional to express an unreal or hypothetical scenario.