Question:
1) It was like a piece of metal, as if it burned in a furnace.
(2) It was like a piece of metal, as if it WERE burned in a furnace.
As far as I can see, two different concepts are being described here.
In the first sentence, whatever is being described was, to the speaker,
like something that was still burning, while in the second sentence,
the thing being described was, to the speaker, like something which had
been burned (or was finished burning). Is there a technical term for
the sort of past tense employed in the first sentence in English
grammar? How might one explain what is being conveyed in the first
sentence, vis a vis the second sentence?
I started mulling over this question after reading the Revelation 1:15
in the King James Version of the Bible. The verse describes Jesus' feet
by saying they were "like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a
furnace". I got the impression that the sentence was in the past tense
because the speaker was describing an event (a vision, a dream, an
experience, whatever) that happened in the past, but when the speaker
had this experience, it was as if the brass was still burning. I hope
I'm making myself clear here.
Answer:
1) could mean that the metal of the simile was actually burning, perhaps
even being the source of heat. The verb is active. That suits the context of
the Revelation vision, though it doesn't correspond to the earthly operation
of a furnace!
(2) The verb here is passive, meaning that the metal has been put in the
furnace to be burned - the heat of the furnace will consume it. Clearly that
doesn't suit the context.
Possibly the two similes - brass and furnace - are independent: the feet
shine like polished brass, and they also glow like the interior of a
furnace. They dazzle the eye, and look terrifyingly powerful.
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