I had an English test at school today. There were some multiple choice questions of tenses in which we had to choose the correct answer. There was a sentence:
"He speaks as if he ___ crazy."
Was
Is
Will be
Were
I had chosen my answer “Is” but my answer was considered wrong; while I think that three of the given options could be correct answers. Teacher told me that “was” was the correct answer.
If we look at this:
He speaks as if he were crazy. (subjunctive past tense to express a hypothetical situation in present time)
He speaks as if he is crazy. (indicative present tense to express a real situation in present time)
I would say the context is not clear enough, so both your choices (is and were) could be considered correct. It depends on what you imply: he is crazy (it’s a fact and he speaks as he usually does, like a crazy man) or in this particular situation he speaks as if he were a crazy man. (but he’s not crazy!). The other option, was, is informal, though very common.
“were” is the conjunctive form of the verb “be”.
English has almost lost the conjunctive mood - only “to be” still keeps its forms.
I can’t remember the actual percentage of native English speakers who get this wrong, and put ‘is’ like you did, but it is a very high number - well over 90%, from what I recall.
The quoted sentence is, indeed, grammatically incorrect.
It is better, (essential for exam purposes) therefore, to stick to ‘If I were’, as in these examples:
‘If I were you, I’d fill the tank now so that we don’t run out of fuel.’
‘If I were to call in on my way home, would that be all right?’
‘If I were a rich man, I would buy whatever you wanted.’
I would only use, “If I was” in phrases that capture a different meaning, such as this one:
Aren’t you viewing the context according to conjunctive/subjunctive mood only?
Look at these examples:
Indicative: i) He is acting as if he is crazy. (= I think/suspect that he is crazy. I don’t believe he is just pretending.) ii) He looks as if he knows the answer. (= He seems to know the answer, and he probably does.) Subjunctive: i) He is acting as if he were crazy. (= He is pretending to be crazy by doing things that remind us of crazy people.) ii) He looks as if he knew the answer. (= He seems to know the answer, but he doesn’t.)
Aren’t you viewing the context according to conjunctive/subjunctive mood only?
Yes - because that is the only way to view this particular context.
You are correct with regard to the examples you give, but, taking your first example 9the closest to the original) I cannot imagine that someone would say He is speaking as if he is crazy.
and mean I think/suspect that he is crazy. I don’t believe he is just pretending.
The person would say exactly what you did… that he is acting as if he is crazy.