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Russ90 Posted 5 years ago
Grammar

Do educated native speakers ever use sentences like: (1) I could have married her if she agreed. (2) I could marry her if she had agreed.

Do educated native speakers ever use sentences like

I could have married her if she agreed.
I could marry her if she had agreed.

  

Top answer

Russ90 Do educated native speakers ever use sentences like I could have married her if she agreed. I could marry her if she had agreed. No.

— Anonymous

  • Russ90 Do educated native speakers ever use sentences like I could have married her if she agreed.
  • I could marry her if she had agreed.
  • No.
  • The tenses clash to the trained ear, and to many others, too, I daresay.
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2 Answers
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Russ90

Do educated native speakers ever use sentences like
I could have married her if she agreed.
I could marry her if she had agreed.

No. The tenses clash to the trained ear, and to many others, too, I daresay.

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Russ90

Do educated native speakers ever use sentences like
I could have married her if she agreed.
I could marry her if she had agreed.

Those are mixed conditionals, and they don't usually work. The pattern of the second one does occasionally make sense, however, if you have the right situation.

If only I

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