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Rosenberg Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
Grammar
Hi, guys. I wondered if you could help me figure out a few questions related to mix conditional tense , which seems to be bothersome and impenetrable for me. I'd be grateful if you could help me. Thanks,
My first question is does the sentence " if the ref had the balls, he would have sent him off" have the same meaning as " if the ref had had balls, he would have sent him off"? Or do both sentences make sense to you? By the way, someone told me it would be okay to delete one of the hads in the second exmaple because "it's not grammatically correct." Is that true?
My second question is: is it okay to write if the team had had an outstanding goalkeeper, it would have or could have won that game? As I just mentioned, someone argues that we should delete one of the hads since " it's not grammtically correct", and change it to if the team had an outstanding goalkeeper, it would have won that game. Is it correct?
And I just found several sentences which are related to conditional online , and I'd like to know if the sentences are correct or not.
The first one is:" we might have had a good time if we had gone to the party."
The second one is: "I might have called a taxi if I knew it was raining." I was thinking about changing it to I might have called a taxi if I had known it was raining. Which one is correct or do they have the same meaning?
The third one is: if he were advising you, he would have told you not to take risks. Is it correct? Is it talking about the past or present?
And the last one is: I could have been watching "Inglorious Basterds" now, if the storm hadn't caused the power outage in the theater. Is it the author reffering to a past event or present event? I thought we could only use could have been doing or could have been to talk about past events. Why would the author use now in this sentence? I also found a similar case in another sentence, say, he could have been Prime Minister now but he got involved in a big financial scandal. I'm still confounded. Is it correct?
Best Regards.
My first question is does the sentence " if the ref had the balls, he would have sent him off" have the same meaning as " if the ref had had balls, he would have sent him off"? Or do both sentences make sense to you? By the way, someone told me it would be okay to delete one of the hads in the second exmaple because "it's not grammatically correct." Is that true?
My second question is: is it okay to write if the team had had an outstanding goalkeeper, it would have or could have won that game? As I just mentioned, someone argues that we should delete one of the hads since " it's not grammtically correct", and change it to if the team had an outstanding goalkeeper, it would have won that game. Is it correct?
And I just found several sentences which are related to conditional online , and I'd like to know if the sentences are correct or not.
The first one is:" we might have had a good time if we had gone to the party."
The second one is: "I might have called a taxi if I knew it was raining." I was thinking about changing it to I might have called a taxi if I had known it was raining. Which one is correct or do they have the same meaning?
The third one is: if he were advising you, he would have told you not to take risks. Is it correct? Is it talking about the past or present?
And the last one is: I could have been watching "Inglorious Basterds" now, if the storm hadn't caused the power outage in the theater. Is it the author reffering to a past event or present event? I thought we could only use could have been doing or could have been to talk about past events. Why would the author use now in this sentence? I also found a similar case in another sentence, say, he could have been Prime Minister now but he got involved in a big financial scandal. I'm still confounded. Is it correct?
Best Regards.
Top answer
rosenberg My first question is does the sentence " if the ref had the *****, he would have sent him off" have the same meaning as " if the ref had had *****, he would have sent him off"? Or do both sentences make sense to you? You have slightly muddied the question by using "the *****" in one place and "*****" in the other.
- rosenberg My first question is does the sentence " if the ref had the *****, he would have sent him off" have the same meaning as " if the ref had had *****, he would have sent him off"?
- Or do both sentences make sense to you?
- You have slightly muddied the question by using "the *****" in one place and "*****" in the other.
- I will assume "the *****" was intended in both places.
- "If the ref had the *****" refers to an imagined situation now, while "If the ref had had the *****" refers to an imagined situation in the past.
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3 Answers
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rosenbergMy first question is does the sentence " if the ref had the *****, he would have sent him off" have the same meaning as " if the ref had had *****, he would have sent him off"? Or do both sentences make sense to you?You have slightly muddied the question by using "the *****" in one place and "*****" in the other. I will assume "the *****" was intende
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Thank you for your reply,GPY. What about the other two sentences "I could have been watching "Inglorious ********" now, if the storm hadn't caused the power outage in the theater." and " he could have been Prime Minister now"? Are they correct ones? Do you think it makes sense if we change it to I could be watching "Inglorious ********" now, if the storm hadn't caused the power outage in the the
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rosenbergThe first one is:" we might have had a good time if we had gone to the party."Correct.
rosenbergThe second one is: "I might have called a taxi if I knew it was raining." I was thinking about changing it to I might have called a taxi if I had known it was raining. Which one is correct or do they have the same meaning?
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