Como dizer "age como se fosse" em inglês

  • She acts as if she is a good person.
  • She acts as if she was a good person.
  • She acts as if she were a good person.
Em qual contexto eu uso essas frases para dizer: Ela age como se fosse uma boa pessoa.

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6 26 454
MR. OLIVEIRA,

1) She acts as if she is a good person.

>> This sentence is wrong. The Subjunctive is used to express unreal conditions. It is a special, relatively rare verb form that expresses something desired or imagined. We use the subjunctive mainly when talking about events that are not certain to happen.

2) The following sentences are correct.

She acts as if she was a good person [informal].
She acts as if she were a good person [formal].

We sometimes use the were-subjunctive (instead of was) after if, as if, wish and suppose. Note that in these cases were is always correct, but was is possible in informal language.

Note: We do not normally say if I was you even in colloquial language.

Strange as it may seem, although the verbs hope and wish seem to be similar, we do not use the subjunctive with hope. Correct sentences with hope would be, for example:

I hope (that) she acts like a good person.
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19 293
A primeira. "She acts as if she is a good person."
19 293
The first structure is not wrong, nor are the other ones preferable in this context.
Ricardo F. Bernardi escreveu: 22 Jan 2021, 11:00 MR. OLIVEIRA,

1) She acts as if she is a good person.

>> This sentence is wrong. The Subjunctive is used to express unreal conditions. It is a special, relatively rare verb form that expresses something desired or imagined. We use the subjunctive mainly when talking about events that are not certain to happen.

2) The following sentences are correct.

She acts as if she was a good person [informal].
She acts as if she were a good person [formal].

We sometimes use the were-subjunctive (instead of was) after if, as if, wish and suppose. Note that in these cases were is always correct, but was is possible in informal language.

Note: We do not normally say if I was you even in colloquial language.

Strange as it may seem, although the verbs hope and wish seem to be similar, we do not use the subjunctive with hope. Correct sentences with hope would be, for example:

I hope (that) she acts like a good person.
Obrigado pela resposta Ricardo.
Eu estava enfrentando problemas com isso porque vi em um fórum que você poderia usar o "Simple present" para indicar o subjuntivo.

[...]
When you’re talking something that the speaker supposes to be true, there’s no marked subjunctive in the present. It works like like then.

He looks as if he knows the answer.

He looks like he knows the answer.

Isso está certo?
Desde já, agradeço a atenção.
6 26 454
MR. OLIVEIRA,

I know it wasn't your intention, however, let me remind you that the questions must be sent to all users of this forum.
Next time, you can send us your questions without addressing to me directly.
Everyone can contribute better. ;-)
_______________

Follow my answer:

We need to pay a special attention when we translate the Portuguese verb parecer to English.

Examples:

It seems he knows the answer.
>> Parece que ele sabe a resposta.

He seems to know the answer.
>> Ele parece saber a resposta.
_______________

Clauses that start with as if describe an unreal or improbable situation if they are followed by an unreal tense - the past subjunctive or the past perfect subjunctive. Otherwise, they express that the statement is true.

The past subjunctive after as if indicates an unreal situation in the present. However, if the situation is true, we use a real tense to express present time.

He looks as if he knew the answer.
>> Ele parece que sabia a resposta.
>> Parece que ele sabia a resposta.

Note: He gives the impression that he knows the answer, but he (probably) doesn't know or we don't know whether he knows or not.

He looks as if he knows the answer.
>> Ele parece que sabe a resposta.
>> Parece que ele sabe a resposta.

Note: He knows the answer. There is no doubt about it.

If we put the verb preceding as if into the past tense, the present simple knows changes into past simple, whereas the past subjunctive knew stays the same. Therefore, both sentences will read as follows:

He looked as if he knew the answer.
>> Ele parecia que sabia a resposta.
>> Parecia que sabia a resposta.

Consequently, the meaning of this sentence (whether he knew the answer or not) can only be deduced from the context. The grammar point described above is also applied to the phrases after as though.

As if and as though are conjunctions. We use them to make comparisons. They have a similar meaning. We use as if and as though to talk about an imaginary situation or a situation that may not be true but that is likely or possible. As if is more common than as though.
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Thank you so much for the explanation, it will really help me in my study.
I will pay more attention next time not to make mistakes again.
Thank you for being gentle.
6 49 1.3k
The discussion follows the pattern of assuming she 'makes believe', though she acts positively or friendly towards others, she might be pretending all along, or most of the time. And rightly so, from the sentence Ryan has provided at the end of the question.

Now, but here is a stretch on my part, obviously Ryan could have meant:
Ela age como se fosse uma boa pessoa. Granted "ela age como uma boa pessoa age, em geral" would be better.) Or even better: "pelo jeito dela agir ela é (ou parece) uma boa pessoa.

Pelo jeito dela agir ela é uma boa pessoa/eu diria que ela é uma boa pessoa pelo jeito que ela age (se comporta em geral):
You can tell she is a good person by the way she acts.
(yes sometimes you can tell a lot about someone by the way just by how they act, other times it can be misleading, though.)

But then, it's a stretch, sometimes that happens in Portuguese.
Most of the time people will think in terms of "she behaves so as to make it appear she is a good person", though.
Thank you Paulo, you have just helped me even more, Now I'm done with this question once for all

I appreciate it!
6 49 1.3k
Glad that I could be of help. I also appreciate your kind feedback. ;-)