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JungKim Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
I had no money but he would lend me some.
(1) I had no money on me but he would lend me some.
(2) I had no money on me but he lent me some.
(3) I had no money on me but he was willing to lend me some.
A grammar book I was reading says that (1) is not possible whereas the others are. This point came up in a discussion of a negative sentence (I had no money on me but he wouldn't lend me any.), which the book says is okay.
The thing is, I've encountered quite a few cases where 'would + infinitive' was used to describe a past event. And I was wondering what exactly makes (1) ungrammatical.
(2) I had no money on me but he lent me some.
(3) I had no money on me but he was willing to lend me some.
A grammar book I was reading says that (1) is not possible whereas the others are. This point came up in a discussion of a negative sentence (I had no money on me but he wouldn't lend me any.), which the book says is okay.
The thing is, I've encountered quite a few cases where 'would + infinitive' was used to describe a past event. And I was wondering what exactly makes (1) ungrammatical.
Top answer
JungKim 'would + infinitive' was used to describe a past event. "Would + an infinitive without to ' can be used to talk about habitual actions or things that were repeated in the past . For ex I used to have no money on me when I wasn't working anywhere, but he would always lend me some (whenever I asked him for) .
- JungKim 'would + infinitive' was used to describe a past event.
- "Would + an infinitive without to ' can be used to talk about habitual actions or things that were repeated in the past .
- For ex I used to have no money on me when I wasn't working anywhere, but he would always lend me some (whenever I asked him for) .
- Or for ex if you take 'if' in "If I had no money on me, he would lend me some" as 'whenever ', that is Whenever (=if) I had no money on me, he would lend me some.
- But note that "If I had no money on me, he would lend me some" could also be in a second conditional sentence describing an unreal or imaginary situation in the present.
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1 Answers
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JungKim 'would + infinitive' was used to describe a past event."Would + an infinitive without to' can be used to talk about habitual actions or things that were repeated in the past. For ex I used to have no money on me when I wasn't working anywhere, but he would always lend me some (wh
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