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student asking question

What's "as if" mean and when's it used?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

"As if" and "as though" mean the same thing, meaning "as would be the case if." You can use these phrases when you explain/say that something appears to be the case when it is not. It's often used as a way of emphasizing something. For example, "as if that weren't enough" (meaning as would be the case it it weren't bad enough), is used here to emphasize that the number of ways in which chronic stress can harm your body. Ex: As if being late to work wasn't bad enough, I also got splashed by a car. Ex: As if she wasn't smart enough with a Ph.D, she also speaks five languages.

Popular Q&As

04/17

Complete the expression with a quiz!

As

if

all

that

weren't

enough,

chronic

stress

has

even

more

ways

it

can

sabotage

your

health,