He talked as if he were a millionaire.
He talked as if he had been a millionaire.
Do the above two samples sound as right and good to you? If yes, are they the same in meaning? Thanks.
Do you mean sentence 1 and 2 are equal in meaning? While sentence 3 and 4 are the same?
1. He talked as if he were a millionaire.
2. He talks as if he were a millionaire.
3. He talks as if had been a millionaire.
4. He talked as if he had been a millionaire.
'' He talked as if he were a millionaire.''
I have a different impression.
Here's how I see it:
1. First of all, it's someone talking in the past (talked)
2. But in my opinion, the person here isn't a millionaire, but rather talks as if he was one.
If you want to make the past perfect version refer to a state that had actually been true at one stage, you need to add an adverb:
'He talked as if he had still been a millionaire.' [In this case he had indeed been a millionaire once, and still talked as if he was. You could convey a similar meaning with 'He talked as if he was/were still a millionaire', but the past perfect emphasizes the fact that the one-time millionaire had a change of fortune.]