たとして

zuotengdazuo · 21 Feb 2020

この住所を訪ねたとしてーー僕は考える。

Hi. Does the として mean "if"? If so, what would be the difference between 訪ねるとして and 訪ねたとして?
Thank you.

Toritoribe · 21 Feb 2020

The past form is used when the main clause is "after the action". The present form also can be used for that situation, so 訪ねるとして can work well there, but it also can be used for "before the action". In other words, "past form + として" is only used for "after the action".
e.g.
〇日本に行くとして、そこで何をする？
〇日本に行ったとして、そこで何をする？
〇日本に行くとして、何を持って行く？
×日本に行ったとして、何を持って行く？

zuotengdazuo · 21 Feb 2020

Thank you.

Toritoribe said:
The past form is used when the main clause is "after the action".

By "the action", you mean the verb before として, right?
I have just found another explanation in a textbook (please seethe picture). Do you think it's a valid explanation? It says the past tense indicate a greater degree of hypothesis.

Toritoribe · 22 Feb 2020

zuotengdazuo said:
By "the action", you mean the verb before として, right?

Yes.

I don't understand what "a greater degree of hypothesis" is. Anyway, the following sentences are all invalid.

大陸の中国が完全に資本主義社会になったとしよう。そのためには何が必要だろうか。
一日に五百マイル運転できたとすれば/すると、どんな車に乗りたいですか。
温暖化現象がこのまま続いたとしよう。我々はどうやればそれを阻止できるだろうか。

SomeCallMeChris · 22 Feb 2020

Toritoribe said:
I don't understand what "a greater degree of hypothesis" is.

It's bad English is what it is. Ahem.

Purely looking at the English, it's equally likely to mean that it's less likely ("more hypothetical") or more likely ("more confident hypothesis") that the hypothetical will come to pass. ("the hypothetical" = the ～ in ～とする).

In the entry for ほうがいい they say that the past tense makes a stronger suggestion than the non-past.

None of which quite adds up to meaning anything to me except that there is supposedly a difference.

zuotengdazuo · 22 Feb 2020

Thank you again.

たとして

zuotengdazuo

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Toritoribe

松葉解禁

zuotengdazuo

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Toritoribe

松葉解禁

SomeCallMeChris

先輩

zuotengdazuo

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