Sentence Correction

The impostor eluded detection for so long because she conducted herself as though she were a licensed practitioner.

A. as though she were a licensed practitioner.
B. as though she was a licensed practitioner.
C. like she was a licensed practitioner.
D. like as if she was a licensed practitioner.
E. as if she was a practitioner with a license.

OA : A

[spoiler]How/where do we use were and was?[/spoiler]

TIA,
GK

Ok the rule here is-

for any hypothetical situation...you should always use a "were"

eg: if i were a superhero, i would have saved the ship from sinking.

GmatKiss wrote:The impostor eluded detection for so long because she conducted herself as though she were a licensed practitioner.

A. as though she were a licensed practitioner.
B. as though she was a licensed practitioner.
C. like she was a licensed practitioner.
D. like as if she was a licensed practitioner.
E. as if she was a practitioner with a license.

OA : A

[spoiler]How/where do we use were and was?[/spoiler]

TIA,
GK

We usually use the subjunctive were instead of "was" after if.

Example:- If I were younger, I would go

See the subjunctive mood.. So, we can use 'Were' after If, Wish, Suppose etc.

Clearly, only option A uses Were correctly. We can safely eliminate other choices.