Poll: The penguins look as if they ____ wearing tuxedos.

ireland13

its 'are' because its in present tense, otherwise 'look' would be 'looked'

lllkemble

Most people chose "are"? The penguins are NOT wearing tuxedos. What is the 'as if" for?

WI

It's not a conditional

Martin

I agree that this is not conditional or subjunctive. Otherwise, it would be were.

David

They really can look that way, so it's not a statement contrary to reality. Use "are" , not "were" in this sentence. They are not wearing tuxedos, but they appear to be - really.

Carly

Actually, this is a case of the use of the present tense replacing the use of the subjunctive in English. We rarely use the subjunctive now, which explains why it sounds so "off" to our ears. However, according to traditional grammar, I believe that "were" would be the correct choice. Just because this may be the case, it doesn't mean that now "are" is not a good alternative. It is in fact what most of us would actually say.

agus

can you explain about middle voice, please???
help me...
everything about middle voice...
please your answer in my facebook : evil.devil97@yahoo.co.id