Ever

Hi Jack112,

1. 'That's' converts naturally into 'that is'.

2. 'That's' would need to be translatable as 'that was'. The usual form, more common in poetry, is: 'Twas.

By the way, write: '100,000 watt', not '100000watt'.

DavkettHi Jack112,

2. 'That's' would need to be translatable as 'that was'. The usual form, more common in poetry, is: 'Twas.

Why is it 'that was' ? #1 is okay with 'that is' ? So what do they mean #1 and #2?

1. That is a 100,000 watt smile if I ever saw one!

2. That was a 100,000 watt smile if I had ever seen one!

Both sentences compare a smile to a very bright light. The first one is referring to a smile being seen at the moment and comparing it to all smiles seen in the past. The second is referring to a smile seen in the past-even in the immediate past, maybe just happene

A slight different word order is also common:

1. That's a 100,000 watt smile if ever I saw one!

The past perfect in #2 seems a little stiff to me. Since you've already specified 'ever', you could simply say:

2. That was a 100,000 watt smile if ever I saw one!

MrP

Davkett1. 'That's' converts naturally into 'that is'.

2. 'That's' would need to be translatable as 'that was'. The usual form, more common in poetry, is: 'Twas.

Are you sure "That's" can be conveted in to "That was"? Because I clearly remember one time I did that once and my english teacher circled it mercilessly with a read pen...

There is no contraction for "that was".

QUOTE: That's a 100,000 watt smile if I had ever seen one!

Is not English. I guess you could write:

That would have been a 100,000 watt smile if I had ever seen one!

I believe that's grammatically correct, although it's a strange thing to say. It has to be "would have been" in order to match "if I had". (Is that a condit

I see how misleading my statement was about contracting 'that's' in no. 2. Rather than suggesting that it could be contracted into 'that was', I only meant to say that 'that was' would have been needed to express the thought.

Even so, 'that was' is still incorrect, as Eimai Anglos-with his eagle eye rightly points out. 'That would have been' is needed there, not ' That was'.

1. If by blowing out your filter, you will put a hole in it, and you will damage the engine, and that will cost many times more than a new filter ever would. (What does 'ever would' here mean? How is it used? I don't understand it. Why not 'ever will' ?)

Thanks.

Hello Jack

Think of it as an implicit type 2:

"That will cost many times more than a new filter ever would, if you bought a new filter."

Blowing out the filter is the likely consequence of the other person's course of action, in the speaker's opinion. So the speaker presents another option: buying a new filter. He presents it as 'remote', because it's an alternative cour