if

Question

Is this sentence correct? If not, how can it be corrected?If you were buying a car, you would have considered its performance, not its appearance.

Han Han · Accepted Answer

Yeah,thanx for this question, I am also a bit confused about the tense of verbs used after IF. Should they always be used as simple present tense after IF?

Pieanne · Answer

I'd say "If you were buying a car, would you consider etc..."

It implies "if you were buying a car now", and "would you have considered" is then (in the past).

Phuongninhbao · Answer

Yeah, you can use present tense after” If.? But the meaning is not the same. For example: You are a student, you want to be a doctor to cure of the disease of all the poor in your district. You can say: If I am a doctor, I will cure of the disease of all the poor in my district.It's a real condition.

You are an ordinary little girl:, you wish you were a princess. You can say: If I were a princess, I would help all of the poor in my country to live better.

You are a student and you will finish your schooling, become a doctor. But you are not a doctor, you are only an ordinary little girl. It’s an unreal condition.

Phuong Ninh

Davkett · Answer

Yes. If we were correcting the structure of the sentence, we would consider its grammar, not its content:

If you were buying a car, you would consider its performance, not its appearance.

Diamondrg · Answer

thnks.

MrPedantic · Answer

If the IF clause relates to an unreal condition, the sentence should be corrected to "...you would consider..."

But if it relates to a real past event, it's correct as it stands, e.g.

"You know that car I bought the other day? Well, it only does 5 miles to the gallon."

"Five miles to the gallon? That's terrible!"

"I know, I know..."

"Why did you buy it, then? Just because it looks good?"

"Just because it looks good? Do you think I'm stupid, or something?"

"No, no, of course not. If you were buying a car, you would have considered its performance, not its appearance....Of course you would..."

MrP

CalifJim · Answer

Good old MrP! Always willing to make the extra effort to contextualize the improbable!
I must say I admire your ability to come up with these scenarios!
Entertaining and informative at the same time!
Thanks.

CJ

Davkett · Answer

CalifJimGood old MrP! Always willing to make the extra effort to contextualize the improbable!

Right!

Still, what kind of consideration did the guy give to the car's performance if he's complaining about its five miles to the gallon?

Diamondrg · Answer

dear Mr Pedantic, thank you very much for your contribution. but unfortunately we don't have any context as it was a question appearing in a nationwide exam. you seem to have found one. the answer is definitely E. but I just wonder whether B is acceptable in the eye of a native however hard it may be to find a suitable context.

If you ---- a car, you ---- its performance, not its appearance.

A) were buying / had been considering

B) were buying / would have considered

C) bought / had considered

D) have bought / would have been considered

E) are buying / should be considering

what I would like to know is that whether one can claim B is acceptable and equally correct.

I have found some similar mixed type sentences from the net. but they seem to be more contexualized.

FUTURE

PAST

EXAMPLES:

If I weren't going on my business trip next week, I would have accepted that new assignment at work.
(But I am going to go on a business trip next week, and that is why I didn't accept that new assignment at work.)

If my parents weren't coming this weekend, I would have planned a nice trip just for the two of us to Napa Valley.
(But my parents are going to come this weekend, and that is why I didn't plan a trip for the two of us to Napa Valley.)

If Donna weren't making us a big dinner tonight, I would have suggested that we go to that nice Italian restaurant.
(But she is going to make us a big dinner tonight, and that is why I didn't suggest that we go to that nice Italian restaurant.)

CalifJim · Answer

Given the context provided by MrP, B is perfectly acceptable grammatically.
"correctness" on an exam is a different matter. There, considerations of what is most probable come into play. Most native speakers are going to see E as much more probable than B as a real everyday utterance.

It's interesting that all three examples at the end of your post have a negative if-clause. I wonder if that is always necessary in that mix of future and past. Also, all three are counterfactual. I also wonder if that is always necessary.

"If you weren't buying a car soon, you would have spent all your savings on something else" fits the pattern.

"If you were buying a car, you would have considered its performance ..." does not fit the same pattern. I find it difficult to read this as counterfactual: "If you were buying a car (and you weren't), you would have considered ...".

Still, "If you were buying a car (next month, but you are not), you would have saved more money during the past two years" seems fine. And this one doesn't have a negative if-clause, though it is counterfactual.

An interesting set of issues you bring up here!

CJ

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