as it were为英语习语，其中were是虚拟语气形式。意为“可以这么说，但实际并非如此”，多译为“仿佛；好像；可以说是；似乎就是；在一定程度上”等，使用时多以插入语的面貌出现。
例：
- He is, as it were, a walking dictionary. 他可以说是一部活字典。
- Every idea we have is, as it were, copied from what we sense or experience. 我们的每一个观念似乎都来自我们的感觉或是经历。
- Spring is here. The ground is covered, as it were, with a green carpet. 春天来了，大地仿佛铺上了绿色的地毯。
- He became, as it were, a man without a country.，他似乎成了一个无国籍的人。
