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Hat gray 40 Posted 9 years ago
Grammar

Had been / have been; would have seen/ would see

1.If you had been there, you would have seen the biggest elephant in the world.

2.If you had been there, you would see the biggest elephant in the world

3.If you have been there, you will have seen the biggest elephant in the world.

4. If you have been there, you will see the biggest elephant in the world.

I am not quite sure when I should use each and if they are almost interchangeably used?

Thank you so much.


I have asked this question on another forum but they did not elaborate on usage.


Link is here:

https://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/253834-had-been-have-been-would-have-seen-would-see

  

Top answer

If you had been there, you would have seen the biggest elephant in the world. Correct. The sentence refers to the past.

— Cool Breeze

  • If you had been there, you would have seen the biggest elephant in the world.
  • Correct.
  • The sentence refers to the past.
  • If you had been there, you would see the biggest elephant in the world Very odd.
  • The person was "there" in the past, but sees the biggest elephant in the world now .
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1 Answers
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hat gray 401.If you had been there, you would have seen the biggest elephant in the world.

Correct. The sentence refers to the past.

hat gray 402.If you had been there, you would see the biggest elephant in the world

Very odd. The person was "there" in the past, but sees the biggest elephant in the world now

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