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Tile chalk Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

"had been" and "would have been"

Hi all

I'm trying to work out if there's a difference between "If I'd been able to do it" and "If I'd have been able to do it". I've got to the point of realising that the first "I'd" is "I had" and the second one is "I would", so the two sentences without contractions would be:

- If I had been able to do it
- If I would have been able to do it

Does the second sentence even make sense? Is it correct on its own or can it only be used as a dependent clause, as in "If I had been able to do it, I would have been able to..."?

Many thanks
  

Top answer

- If I had been able to do it - If I would have been able to do it Hi, Cornish. Where ya been? I grew up in New England and never heard the second usage.

— Avangi

  • - If I had been able to do it - If I would have been able to do it Hi, Cornish.
  • Where ya been?
  • I grew up in New England and never heard the second usage.
  • When I did some work in the midwest as an adult, I heard it all the time, and I thought, "What's wrong with these people?
  • " It still makes absolutely no sense to me.
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14 Answers
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- If I had been able to do it
- If I would have been able to do it


Hi, Cornish. Where ya been?

I grew up in New England and never heard the second usage. When I did some work in the midwest as an adult, I heard it all the time, and I thought, "What's wrong with
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A Cornish PastyDoes the second sentence even make sense?
Not to me. After if, will and would are not used, or rather, they are used only in very special situations, and this is not one of them. For me, the only correct form is "if I had been able", though you will find people who insist that "if I would have been able" or even "if I had'
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A Cornish PastyI'm trying to work out if there's a difference between "If I'd been able to do it" and "If I'd have been able to do it".
To me, only the first is standard English. However, the second is routinely used by some native speakers, and, I suppose because of familiarity, does not in conversation sound like a dreadful error to me. "If I would have bee
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A Cornish PastyI'm trying to work out if there's a difference between "If I'd been able to do it" and "If I'd have been able to do it". I've got to the point of realising that the first "I'd" is "I had" and the second one is "I would"
Thinking some more, I'm not sure if this is necessarily true. I suspect that if you asked some of those speakers who say "If I'
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Mr Wordy[ they'd claim it was short for "I had".
"If I had have been able to do it" doesn't seem a whole heckovalot better, to my ear.
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This kind of sentence seems OK though:

"I don't know if I would have been a good lawyer, or even if I would have been
able to get through law school."
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Mr WordyThis kind of sentence seems OK though:

"I don't know if I would have been a good lawyer, or even if I would have been
able to get through law school."
Let me repeat something from above.

"After if, will and would are not used, or rather, they are used only in very special situation
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It even sounds good to my ear.
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My own dialect of English uses "if I had've been" and it comes across as totally natural...even to the point where in academic writing we need grammar checks or friends to catch it. Some write it (colloquially) as If I hadda been there...or as a preposition "If I had of been there". Its not correct English...but at least in parts of Canada its common place...even amongst the educated...and I would
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Hi !I would like to understand the meaning of "would havd been"
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