A firm which did not invest its earnings would not survive very long.

Question

Hello....A firm which did not invest its earnings would not survive very long.Does this sentence refer to the past or the future or both?

Ivanhr · Accepted Answer

The sentence explicitly refers  to the past only (but the conclusion made could be extrapolated to the future as well)

Pructus · Answer

Thanks Ivanhr....

In the http://www.EnglishForward.com/English/AnyoneSaidWouldCrazy/bzkwhz/post.htm#sc1889066

The question: Anyone who said that would be crazy.

Does the underlined part have two meanings?
The answer was: who didn't actually said that but if anyone said that in the past.

I feel the two questions are the same kind...

Am I missing something here?

Ivanhr · Answer

I agree with that answer. The "would" there basically turns that sentence into a conditonal one.

Pructus · Answer

Thanks Ivanhr..

So, it is like....

Anyone who said that would be crazy. refers to the future or present.

and, A firm which did not invest its earnings would not survive very long. refers to the past events?

When both are in the same structure of, "Noun + who/which + Verb + would"?

Ivanhr · Answer

No, that sentence refers to the past only. but sometimes. what is true in the past is  true in the present and will be true in the future as well.

A firm which did not invest its earnings would not survive very long.

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