com si + Imperfect Subjunctive

Com Si with the Imperfect Subjunctive

Level 4

Com si introduces an imagined comparison with imperfect subjunctive, or pluperfect subjunctive for an earlier event.

How It Works

Com si means as if. It presents the comparison as imagined, apparent or contrary to what the speaker knows, rather than asserting it directly. Use an imperfect subjunctive such as fos or sabés even when the main verb is present.

The imperfect describes a simultaneous situation: parla com si fos expert. For an action already completed relative to the comparison, use hagués plus a participle: actua com si no hagués passat res.

Do not choose the conditional merely because English uses would in a possible paraphrase. The conditional can appear in the main clause of a different hypothetical construction, but com si itself establishes the subordinate subjunctive frame.

Examples (3)

  1. Parla com si ho sabés tot.

    He speaks as if he knew everything.

  2. Em mira com si no m'hagués vist mai.

    She looks at me as if she had never seen me.

  3. Caminen com si tinguessin pressa.

    They walk as if they were in a hurry.

Common Mistakes

  • Using conditional inside the imagined com si comparison.

    Parla com si ho sabria tot.
    Parla com si ho sabés tot.

    Com si selects a subjunctive comparison, here imperfect sabés, rather than conditional sabria.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

com si + Imperfect SubjunctiveLevel 4Com Si with the Imperfect Subjunctive

Learn This First

Recognize subjunctive forms and nonasserted content before extending the mood to new clauses.

Words in This Pattern

com si