Is there any difference between: If I were you, I would work harder. If I were you, I would have worked harder. And can we use was rather than were in both sentences? Answer Is there any difference If I were you, I would work harder is subjunctive present, which means that the verb phrase … Read more
The following sentence seems needlessly cumbersome. Can we rewrite it without changing its meaning? But what I will say is that at the start of the season I’d have said they would have had absolutely no chance of finishing in the top four. Is the use of would have had necessary? Can we rewrite the … Read more
I’ve just seen the following sentence on a band’s biography: Had it not been for a studio theft, the band might never have made that song. Then I was wondering if I can change this sentence to: If it were not for a studio theft, the band might never have made that song. Is the … Read more
I am writing subtitles for a rare, old foreign movie (in Italian) for my English speaking friends. I have a doubt. What is the correct form among the following, and can you help me understand why? He built a temple for when the rain would come He built a temple for when the rain would … Read more
I want to express the opinion that if a man somehow travelled in time from 2006 to 2016 he would find a lot of new stuff. I remember an episode of South Park called “Prehistoric Ice Man” and want to refer to it, by using “prehistoric” word to emphasize the large difference between now and … Read more
Given the situation: I enjoy a podcast that has ended There is a bonus episode of the podcast that I am not aware of that, if I were aware, I would listen to it Somebody tells me about the existence of the episode The best way I can think to write this, that isn’t super … Read more
Person A: Where is my car? Person B: I don’t know. Maybe John took it. Person A: If John took it, he would have let me know. Person A: If John took it, he will have let me know. Person A: If John had taken it, he would have let me know. Q1) In each … Read more
It is an excerpt from Capt. Robert Falcon Scott letter “To: my widow” which he wrote while dying in Antarctic: “Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead … Read more
I know that I can use “had” to construct a conditional perfect: Had it not rained yesterday, we would have finished painting the walls. But is it grammatically correct to reverse the order of the clauses, like this? We would have finished painting the walls, had it not rained yesterday. Answer It is grammatically correct. … Read more
Can I use past perfect in conditional sentence? Is this phrase correct? She could have helped him would she had known something about first aid. If this is a complicated situation, how you feel about it? (kludgy/strange/etc). Thanks. Answer No. The inversion for a conditional clause is only used, in my experience, for a traditional … Read more
