Has done.

Question

Unless the company has done very well and starts to make a ton of money than maybe competitors would try to find a way to get us in legal trouble.  Is this sentence okay?  Thank you!

KrisBlueNZ · Accepted Answer

"... has done very well ..." is an idiomatic expression but it's somewhat casual and might not be appropriate in formal writing. You could replace it with "... has been very successful ...".

"Unless the company has done very well and starts to make a ton of money than maybe competitors ~~would~~ suggest might or could try to find a way to get us in suggest into legal trouble."

The section "... has done very well and starts to ..." changes the tense and doesn't sound good to me. You could say "... and then starts to ..." but I think it's better to use a consistent tense: "... company does very well and starts to ..." or "... company becomes very successful and starts to ...".

You have used than instead of then. This is a common mix-up even among native English speakers and it drives me nuts!

I think you have the logic backwards in that sentence, because of the unless at the start. If you write "Unless x, [then] y" it means that y will happen if x is not true. In other words, y will happen, but it won't happen if x. What you mean to say is "If x, [then] y". If the company is successful, competitors may try to get you into legal trouble. So you need to change unless to if.

"If the company becomes very successful and profitable, competitors might try to find ways to get us into legal trouble."

PreciousJones · Answer

KrisBlueNZ"... has done very well ..." is an idiomatic expression but it's somewhat casual and might not be appropriate in formal writing. You could replace it with "... has been very successful ..."."Unless the company has done very well and starts to make a ton of money than maybe competitors would suggest might or could try to find a way to get us in suggest into legal trouble."The section "... has done very well and starts to ..." changes the tense and doesn't sound good to me. You could say "... and then starts to ..." but I think it's better to use a consistent tense: "... company does very well and starts to ..." or "... company becomes very successful and starts to ...".You have used than instead of then. This is a common mix-up even among native English speakers and it drives me nuts!I think you have the logic backwards in that sentence, because of the unless at the start. If you write "Unless x, [then] y" it means that y will happen if x is not true. In other words, y will happen, but it won't happen if x. What you mean to say is "If x, [then] y". If the company is successful, competitors may try to get you into legal trouble. So you need to change unless to if."If the company becomes very successful and profitable, competitors might try to find ways to get us into legal trouble."

Thank you very much for the clear explanation.

I chose unless because we're talking about our business not having a patent and the reason why we think we won't get sued. So, it's kind of like unless it becomes successful then otherwise we think we're safe here.

Would it then be okay to use unless? Thanks again.

PreciousJones · Answer

"If the company becomes very successful and profitable, competitors might try to find ways to get us into legal trouble."

Shouldn't I try to stick with the same tenses? Is this a first conditional sentence? What's the difference between saying:

"If the company became very successful and profitable, competitors might try to find ways to get us into legal trouble."

And

"If the company becomes very successful and profitable, competitors may try to find ways to get us into legal trouble."

Anonymous · Answer

Yes, stick with the same verb tense.

KrisBlueNZ · Answer

OK, if the issue relates to getting a patent, you should mention that in your sentence, because it's the important link between success (and profitability) and being put "into legal trouble" (I assume that means that the company might be sued).

Usually, competitors go after successful businesses, because there's no point trying to get money out of a failed company. But on the other hand, a rich company will be better able to defend itself, so the competitor is more likely to lose, I suppose, and if the competitor's intention is just to kill the company completely, they have a better chance with a company that can't defend itself.

I think you should explain your reasoning clearly, in stages. For example, "If our company does not become successful and profitable, it will not be able to afford to patent the invention, whatever it is, and a competitor may try to claim our invention as their own, patent it themselves, and sue us for selling a product that infringes their patent!" (If that is what you mean.)

It is clearer to explain using "If ..." than "Unless ...", especially if the sentence contains many clauses.

1. "If the company became very successful and profitable, competitors might try to find ways to get us into legal trouble."
2. "If the company becomes very successful and profitable, competitors may try to find ways to get us into legal trouble."
Sentence 2 is fine with either might or may. I can't tell you whether sentence 1 (with became) is wrong or not, but I wouldn't say it. My objection was to the change in tense between "has done very well" and "starts to make a ton of money".

PreciousJones · Answer

KrisBlueNZOK, if the issue relates to getting a patent, you should mention that in your sentence, because it's the important link between success (and profitability) and being put "into legal trouble" (I assume that means that the company might be sued).Usually, competitors go after successful businesses, because there's no point trying to get money out of a failed company. But on the other hand, a rich company will be better able to defend itself, so the competitor is more likely to lose, I suppose, and if the competitor's intention is just to kill the company completely, they have a better chance with a company that can't defend itself.I think you should explain your reasoning clearly, in stages. For example, "If our company does not become successful and profitable, it will not be able to afford to patent the invention, whatever it is, and a competitor may try to claim our invention as their own, patent it themselves, and sue us for selling a product that infringes their patent!" (If that is what you mean.) It is clearer to explain using "If ..." than "Unless ...", especially if the sentence contains many clauses. 1. "If the company became very successful and profitable, competitors might try to find ways to get us into legal trouble."2. "If the company becomes very successful and profitable, competitors may try to find ways to get us into legal trouble."Sentence 2 is fine with either might or may. I can't tell you whether sentence 1 (with became) is wrong or not, but I wouldn't say it. My objection was to the change in tense between "has done very well" and "starts to make a ton of money".

Hello Kris,

As a native speaker, why wouldn't you use the 2nd sentence with If the company became? Also, are these two sentences conditional sentences?

Look forward to your answer.

KrisBlueNZ · Answer

Yes, they are conditional sentences (according to Wikipedia's definition of a conditional sentence, which I just looked up). They are saying that if some condition is true, then a particular consequence will, or might, happen.

I'm a bit out of my depth with become vs. became. Became is past tense - for example, "The job became too difficult and we had to stop". But it can also be used to state a contingency: "We would like to proceed with the job now, but if it became too difficult, we would, of course, stop". I cannot explain this; as a student of English grammar you probably can! But I don't see any reason to use became in the contingency example; it's more direct to say "... but if it becomes too difficult, we will, of course, stop".

PreciousJones · Answer

KrisBlueNZYes, they are conditional sentences (according to Wikipedia's definition of a conditional sentence, which I just looked up). They are saying that if some condition is true, then a particular consequence will, or might, happen.I'm a bit out of my depth with become vs. became. Became is past tense - for example, "The job became too difficult and we had to stop". But it can also be used to state a contingency: "We would like to proceed with the job now, but if it became too difficult, we would, of course, stop". I cannot explain this; as a student of English grammar you probably can! But I don't see any reason to use became in the contingency example; it's more direct to say "... but if it becomes too difficult, we will, of course, stop".

This is what's confused me. If these are conditional sentences, shouldn't I try to stick with one tense instead of mixing tenses?

For example:

"If the company becomes very successful and profitable, competitors might try to find ways to get us into legal trouble."

Shouldn't the correct form be:

"If the company becomes very successful and profitable, competitors may try to find ways to get us into legal trouble."

But may makes it sound like it's a certainty when in actuality it is unknown and not factual. But the conditional grammar rules say that we should stick to the same verb tenses...

KrisBlueNZ · Answer

May doesn't mean it's certain. For example, "You may be right" just means "you could be right"; it doesn't mean "you are right" and "You may begin now" means "you are permitted to begin now".

Regarding the difference in tense between may and might, I see that in some cases they aren't interchangeable ("You may begin now" cannot be replaced with "You might begin now") but in that sentence, both seem equally OK to me. Perhaps I'm wrong.

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