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Jack112 Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Confusing Would

1. What if your car has a steering lock? What would they do to drive it? (I have two seperate questions, is this okay? How does this work? )

2. This is pretty much what I would expect from a member. (So this is a conditional? Except it is less forceful then 'will' ?)

3. If I am not working, I would be counted as a participator. (So what is 'would' here? Suggestion for a conditional? Is this a mixed sentence? Or this is not a true conditional?

Thanks.
  

Top answer

Hello Jack 1. What if your car has a steering lock? What would they do to drive it?

  • Hello Jack 1.
  • What if your car has a steering lock?
  • What would they do to drive it?
  • This is at bottom a mixed conditional, but disguised somewhat by the two-question format: 1a.
  • If your car has a steering lock, what would they do to drive it?
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10 Answers
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Hello Jack

1. What if your car has a steering lock? What would they do to drive it?

This is at bottom a mixed conditional, but disguised somewhat by the two-question format:

1a. If your car has a steering lock, what would they do to drive it?

In the first question, the speaker uses 'has' to give an impression of immediacy. In the second question,
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QUOTE: I have two seperate questions

May I point out the correct spelling of "separate".
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Scenario: I'm in a superstore and look for some gloves so I ask the lady that works there.

1. If you go over to aisle eight, it would be there. (This is not a true conditional right? If I used 'will' here, the lady would sound too confident?)

2. If you go over to aisle eight, it will be there. (Although this is a proper conditional, it is better to use #1?)
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Hello Jack

"Scenario: I'm in a superstore and looking for some gloves so I ask the lady that works there."

1. If you go over to aisle eight, it would be there.

2. If you go over to aisle eight, it will be there.

A more natural 'will' version would be: 'if you go over to aisle 8, you'll find it there'. This sounds quite brisk, but not impoli
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Scenario: Someone is considing about investing 1.5 billion dollars onbuilding some turbines and making profit of it.

1. The turbines would bring a lot of power to the city which he wants to make profit off. (Is 'wants' okay with 'would' ? If so , how come?)

2. The turbines would bring a lot of power to the city which he wanted to make profit off. ('Wa
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Hello Jack

"to make profit off" sounds a little strange – is this from a website?

MrP
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Sorry. I didn't have the article when I posted it.

This is exactly what the article says:
The company is proposing the $1.5 billion private-sector venture for profit. An underwater cable would bring the power to the city, where the compants wants to sell the power.
1. An underwater cable would bring the power to the city, where the compants wants
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Hello Jack
The company is proposing the $1.5 billion private-sector venture for profit. An underwater cable would bring the power to the city, where the company wants to sell the power.
1. An underwater cable would bring the power to the city, where the company wants to sell the power. ('Wants' is compatible with 'would' ? How come not 'wanted'? Although
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Hi, which one of the phrases 'heading for' and 'taking to' is closer to 'going over' in meaning as in, I'm following the jack's example: 'You should take to the aisle eight' or ' you should head for the aisle eight'

thanks
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Hello K.O.

'You should head for aisle 8' is what you want.

MrP

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