What is the tense in this sentence? Is the verb in conditional?

Asked Jun 02 '18 at 08:37

Active Jun 02 '18 at 09:31

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In what verbal tense is "were"? Could it be considered conditional? Or a preterite in subjunctive mood?

The best way I can explain it to you is by saying that, for a second or two, I felt as though, instead of going to the centre of a continent, I were about to set off for the center of the earth.

edited Jun 02 '18 at 09:31

asked Jun 02 '18 at 08:37

user301448

1

Possible duplicate of Behave as if it was or it were. There are other relevant threads; she laughed as though there was/were a chance he might have ... looks more like an exact duplicate, but was closed as a duplicate of the former. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 02 '18 at 08:46
It has no tense -- it's a mood form, often called 'irrealis'. The expression "as though" marks this as a comparative construction. The "as though" phrase introduces the manner complement: ... as though I were about to set off for the center of the earth." – BillJ Jun 02 '18 at 10:18

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