"Ele me trata como se eu fosse um estranho."

Translation: He treats me as if I were a stranger.

[r_i_l_e_y]

Why do we use the verb "ir" and not "estar" or "ser"?

[Paulenrique]

Actually, it isn't the verb ir, but ser. The point is the in some tenses a few conjugations of them are the same. If I were a student,... (se eu fosse um estudante,...) / if I went to the beach,... (se eu fosse à praia,..)

[r_i_l_e_y]

Ahh thanks so much Paulo, that makes sense now!

[Paulenrique]

http://www.conjuga-me.net/verbo-ir. Look at the past subjuntive and then compare with the verb ser

[peduzzi]

This translation is too literal and odd... I'm not English fluent, but I think "He treats me like I am a stranger" is better. Sounds good in English?

[kpferdeort]

Both "He treats me like a stranger" and "He treats me as if I were a stranger" are fine and used regularly in English. The "were" is an English subjunctive form, which is why it looks a little weird. We would use it more in formal conversations or in writing.

[josue.molina]

"He treats me like if i were a stranger"

This is wrong because the I is not capital.... that is just not cool.

[jonathan.j5]

I think you misunderstood what Duolingo was correcting. As an English native I would say "He treats me like I were a stranger" or "He treats me as if I were a stranger". I don't know the rule for it, but using like and if together in this context sounds strange to my ear.

Sidenote: In colloquial English it's common to say "I WAS a stranger", it was only through these lessons that I learned that "I WERE" is the formal way of writing this in English subjunctive.

[Paulenrique]

Thanks man!! i've learned that "i was" in such context is colloquial, but I didn't know its usage was so spread out...

[emeyr]

Grammatically-correct English: He treats me as if I were a stranger. (subjunctive tense)

Colloquial English is: He treats me like a stranger.

In academic settings/newspapers,magazines, etc. you will hear/see the former.

[Oceanotti]

One question about the possibility of ellipsis of the pronoun in the subject of the subordinate clause

I tried "ele me trata como se fosse um estranho" and got rejected. I know that “fosse” may be both 1st and 3rd person of the singular, buy there is little room, if any, for ambiguity, so based on what I learned it should be OK not to include the pronoun ”eu“.

Does Portuguese work differently than Spanish in this sort of sentences? (The Spanish translation is completely equivalent, even in the sameness of the conjugation of the verb for 1st and 3rd person singular, and the omission of the pronoun is admitted and even encouraged. In fact, to include the subject would serve to provide emphasis.)