As If/Though

نیچے دیے گئے فقرے کا اردو میں ترجمہ کریں:

وہ ایسے بیٹھا ہوا تھا جیسے کوئی بادشاہ ہو-

She looks as if/though she is rich.✓
In the above example, we used a real tense after “as if/though.” When we use a real tense (real tense means a tense which is not hypothetical or past subjunctive) after “as if/though,” it means the situation is perhaps true.

She looks as if/though she is rich. (= perhaps she is rich.)

When we use an unreal tense (past subjunctive) after “as if or as though,” it means the situation is definitely not true.

She looks as though (or as if) she was/were rich. (= She's definitely not rich.)

When the first part of the sentence is in the present, you have the choice to use either real or unreal tense after “as if/though” according to the situation (whether it's true or not).

But, when the first part of the sentence is in the past, you must use a past tense after “as if” regardless of the situation is true or not.

He looks as if he knows the answer. (= perhaps he knows)
He looks as though he knew the answer. (= He definitely doesn't know.)

He looks = the first part of the sentence is in the present, so we could use either a present or a past tense after “as if.”

He looked as if he knew the answer. (Here only the situation will tell you whether he knows the answer or not; it can be both true or untrue because we didn't differentiate between the tense.)

He looked = here the first part of the sentence is in the past, so we could only use a past tense after “as if.”
Now, let's try to translate the Urdu lines above.

وہ ایسے بیٹھا ہوا تھا جیسے کوئی بادشاہ ہو۔

بیٹھا ہو تھا = Continuous state

He was sitting as if/as though he was a king.

He was sitting = the first part is in the past, so we used a past tense after “as if” regardless of the situation is true or untrue.

He was sitting as if/as though he is a king.✖️

“Were” can be used instead of “was” even after “he, she, it” if the situation is hypothetical.