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YoungJae Lee Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
future perfect tense (from The Pelican Brief)
Do you (English native speakers) use "would" instead of "will" in future perfect? I saw strange a sentence in The Pelican Brief.
"Rosenberg would have died from natural causes."
I think grammatical sentence is "Rosenberg will have died from natural causes".
Is 'would have' 'tentative future perfect'?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gray shook his head in frustration as he scribbled away. "Why would anyone want to be a lawyer?"
"I've asked myself that a few times in the past week."
"Any idea what the Fifth Circuit might do?"
"None. They haven't even seen it yet. The plaintiffs are alleging a multitude of procedural sins by the defendants, and given the nature of the conspiracy, a lot of it's probably true. It could be reversed."
"Then what happens?"
"The fun starts. If either side is unhappy with the Fifth Circuit, they can appeal to the Supreme Court."
"Surprise, surprise."
"Each year the Supreme Court receives thousands of appeals, but is very selective about what it takes. Because of the money and ressure and issues involved, this one has a decent chance of
being heard."
"From today, how long would it take for the case to be decided by he Supreme Court?"
"Anywhere from three to five years."
"Rosenberg would have died from natural causes."
"Yes, but there could be a Democrat in the White House when he died from natural causes. So take him out now when you can sort of predict his replacement."
"Makes sense."
"Rosenberg would have died from natural causes."
I think grammatical sentence is "Rosenberg will have died from natural causes".
Is 'would have' 'tentative future perfect'?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gray shook his head in frustration as he scribbled away. "Why would anyone want to be a lawyer?"
"I've asked myself that a few times in the past week."
"Any idea what the Fifth Circuit might do?"
"None. They haven't even seen it yet. The plaintiffs are alleging a multitude of procedural sins by the defendants, and given the nature of the conspiracy, a lot of it's probably true. It could be reversed."
"Then what happens?"
"The fun starts. If either side is unhappy with the Fifth Circuit, they can appeal to the Supreme Court."
"Surprise, surprise."
"Each year the Supreme Court receives thousands of appeals, but is very selective about what it takes. Because of the money and ressure and issues involved, this one has a decent chance of
being heard."
"From today, how long would it take for the case to be decided by he Supreme Court?"
"Anywhere from three to five years."
"Rosenberg would have died from natural causes."
"Yes, but there could be a Democrat in the White House when he died from natural causes. So take him out now when you can sort of predict his replacement."
"Makes sense."
Top answer
YoungJae Lee Do you (English native speakers) use "would" instead of "will" in future perfect? No. If there is no will , it can't be called future perfect.
- YoungJae Lee Do you (English native speakers) use "would" instead of "will" in future perfect?
- No.
- If there is no will , it can't be called future perfect.
- Future perfect always contains will .
- YoungJae Lee Is 'would have' 'tentative future perfect'?
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3 Answers
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YoungJae LeeDo you (English native speakers) use "would" instead of "will" in future perfect?No. If there is no will, it can't be called future perfect. Future perfect always contains will.
YoungJae LeeIs 'would have' 'tentative future perfect'?Not all English grammar texts give a name for the combinations
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Thanks, but I'd like to clarify.
Lee: Rosenberg would have died from natural causes.
In the above sentence did John Grisham make a mistake?
Should it be "Rosenberg will have died from natural causes"?
Or did John Grisham make mistake on purpose, knowing 'would' is ungrammatical?
In that case, he might have expected the 'would' add tent
Lee: Rosenberg would have died from natural causes.
In the above sentence did John Grisham make a mistake?
Should it be "Rosenberg will have died from natural causes"?
Or did John Grisham make mistake on purpose, knowing 'would' is ungrammatical?
In that case, he might have expected the 'would' add tent
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YoungJae LeeIn the above sentence did John Grisham make a mistake?Don't be ridiculous. We don't talk about famous authors in print as making mistakes.
YoungJae LeeOr did John Grisham make mistake on purpose, knowing 'would' is ungrammatical?I doubt it. What he wrote meant something to him. For some reason the time relat
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