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Is the second sentence grammatically correct?

"- I want to drive a Ferrari" "- As if you would be able to drive it"

I know the sentence "As if you were able to drive it" is correct, but can I use the other one instead of "As if!", for example?

Thanks

Pierre
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1 Answers1

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Technically, there may be grounds for objection, though I doubt most native speakers would notice even in writing unless their attention were drawn to it.

"As if" is an abridged clause of comparison, so "as if you would be able to drive it" is the elliptical equivalent of "[you want to drive it] as [you would drive it] if you would be able to drive it." You see how wrong the double conditional looks in that full version.

Eric Eskildsen
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  • But modern usage rather than derivation is what informs acceptable English. 'As if he's going to be any help!' is quite acceptable, at least in an informal register. Could this not be construed as a shortened form of '[You're] [talking nonsense:] [talking] as if he's going to be (some) help? If this analysis is possible, it lends support to OP's version. However, the only real test is 'Is it considered acceptable (enough to use)?' – Edwin Ashworth Sep 11 '14 at 13:35
  • Agreed. In practice, I wouldn't make the distinction, even from a prescriptivist standpoint. My point was to explain the objection that there "may" be grounds for. You make a good case why even that is a bad reason to worry about the usage. – Eric Eskildsen Sep 11 '14 at 14:49
  • A more pertinent objection is that 'As if you could drive a Ferrari!' would probably be the choice in 90+% of cases (where the speaker felt impassioned enough to break the two-word barrier). 'As if you would be (/ were) able to drive it' sound suspiciously mixed-register. – Edwin Ashworth Sep 11 '14 at 14:55
  • But in this case it is disbelief for the hypothetical situation. Like, "Even if you could get your hand on a Ferrari you would never be able to drive it properly". It doesn't matter if he is able now, it only matters the hypothetical situation. And the "would be able" replaced by "could" only works in this particular case. Any would +infinitive is the question... – Pierre Sep 11 '14 at 20:44