"As though he thought he were" or "as though he had thought he was"

Question

I have a question about the phrase "as though" and an unreal situation.

When you are describing someone who liked giving orders to everyone, which sentence can you use?

He acted as though he thought he were our boss.

He acted as though he had thought he was our boss.

The unreal situation is that he thought he was our boss. As the bossy person wasn't our boss and wouldn't have thought he was actually our boss, I think subjunctive is necessary in this sentence. But I don't know which verb should change tense for the subjunctive, thought/had thought or was/were.

Answer 1

The main unreal situation is that he is not our boss. I would write your sentence as:

He acted as though he were our boss.

Had been is not recommended in this case, as acted is simultaneous with the unreality of were.

If however, you want to emphasise that he acted like a boss, but not because he thought he was the boss, this situation is peculiar, but let's say it can exist. Then you could either say:

He acted as though he thought he was our boss. (one irrealis - thought - is enough)

or

Although he did not think he was the boss, he acted as though he did.