past unreal

[Anonymous]

there was a sentence i found in a grammer book which i didn't understand. I'm still frustrating.
" My mother held the baby as if he were her own child"

I don't get why the author used were? Shouldn't it behad been since it's talking about the past?

[Rusty]

(Here is a quote from the following website that briefly explains the subjunctive mood. The verb "were" is subjunctive form of the verb "be".
http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000031.htm
"A verb is in the subjunctive mood when it expresses a condition which is doubtful or not factual. It is most often found in a clause beginning with the word if. It is also found in clauses following a verb that expresses a doubt, a wish, regret, request, demand, or proposal".
"Had been" puts the action earlier than "held," but since the holding and the being happened together, the subjunctive mood is used).