AnonymousWhich one is correct??

These:

If I knew you were coming I would have a hair cut
If I had known you were coming I would have had a hair cut

Also, to add to Mister Micawber's response, "haircut" is one word. "A hair cut" is incorrect, at least in my books.

Also, "get a haircut" is better than "have a haircut".

If I knew you were coming, I would get a haircut. refers to the present or the future
If I had known you were coming, I would have got/gotten a haircut. refers to the past

And yet,



CJ

Come on, CJ, it's a song! Next thing you know, you will be telling us "if I was" is okay because Gwen Stefani sings "If I was a rich girl...".

XerxesCome on, CJ, it's a song!

Doesn't matter. if-clauses with stative verbs are very frequently in the past (not the expected past perfect) when the main clause has "would have".

If I were, If I had, If I believed, If I knew, ... would have ... are commonly seen in this pattern.

If the past is used in other kinds of sentence

CalifJimDoesn't matter. if-clauses with stative verbs are very frequently in the past (not the expected past perfect) when the main clause has "would have".If I were, If I had, If I believed, If I knew, ... would have ... are commonly seen in this pattern.If the past is used in other kinds of sentences where a past perfect is expected, we consistently explain it as "It is

Maybe it's an Americanism.

CJ

CalifJimMaybe it's an Americanism. CJ

Possibly…to be honest, I have seen the construction you were talking about in literary texts, but I would not use it myself and would discourage students from using it as well.

In the few minutes since my last post, I used fraze.it to find examples. They are far from scarce, and they are used by reputable publications such as the Washington Post. All have "would have" + past participle in the main clause and a past simple of a stative verb in the if-clause.

Chances are that these items would have been hot buys if they were sold on eBay.