if clause in an apodosis

Question

Hello I found a tricky question in other English learner site. The question is:

Which is appropriate for the blank in the passage below, #1, #2, or #3?
1. was
2. were
3. had been

In the Sri Lankan camp, Dr. Kanto found that the treatment varied according to the severity of the patients’ condition. It took her a while to get used to this.
“For example, I examined a child with a serious disease. When I saw the child, it was too late. If this had occurred in Japan, a doctor would have tried everything possible to cure the child, even if the chance ( ) small. There, however, we were very short of medical equipment. We could not use precious oxygen for patients who were incurable.” Dr. Kanto remembers feeling terrible when she had to turn off the oxygen. There was no choice. But she still doesn’t know whether she did right or not.

There are two answers from native speakers and they both chose "had been". Do you agree? I rather go with "was".

paco

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

If it had occurred in Japan, a doctor would have tried ..., even if the chance had been small.

I think this is the 'correct' solution. The bothersome thing is that one wants to change the whole sentence to avoid the problem (e.g., "even in the face of probable failure"). None of the proposed solutions actually appeals to me. "was" is probably just as good as any of the others.

CJ

Paco2004 · Answer

Hi CJ

Thank you for the quick reply. For what reason do you choose "had been"? When I read "if the chance had been small", I tend to take it as a subjunctive for an unreal past state, i.e. third conditional. If it is so, "if the chance had been small" would imply the speaker knows that "the chance was in fact big". I feel it makes no sense. How about you?

paco

[PS] My reply to the site is as follows:

(Ex-1) I'll do my best even if the chance is small (1).
Here the speaker uses the indicative mood for <if-clause #1> because he does not know whether the chance is small or not.
If he says "I'll do my best even if the chance were small(1)", it sounds odd to me because the use of the subjunctive mood for<if-clause #1> implies that he knows the chance is actually big.

(Ex-2) If I were a doctor (2), I would do my best even if the chance is small (1).
Here the speaker uses the subjunctive mood for <if-clause #2> because he knows he is not a doctor. He chooses the present tense for <if clause #1>, because "I would do my best" is a hypothetical activity that he would do now or in future.

(Ex-3) If I had worked as a doctor at the hospital (2), I would have done my best even if the chance was small (1).
The speaker chooses the past tense for <if clause #1>, because "I would have done my best" is a hypothetical activity that he would have done in past.

CalifJim · Answer

"if the chance had been small" would imply the speaker knows that "the chance was in fact big". I feel it makes no sense. How about you?

Looked at that way, it doesn't make sense.
I didn't consider the implications with regard to the usually hypothetical nature of such structures.
Your argument for "was" is convincing.

CJ

Archaic · Answer

Were is right. Was isn't wrong per se, so far as your intention is informality. Had been seems okay.

EDIT: Thank you!

Clive · Answer

Hi,

I'm enjoying everyone's comments. I hope it won't seem impertinent if I correct the spelling of 'per say' to 'per se'.

Clive

Clive · Answer

Hi Paco,

I'm interested in the title of your thread. Is the example you are looking at not better described as a secondary protasis in an apodosis?

Best wishes, Clive

Paco2004 · Answer

CliveI'm interested in the title of your thread. Is the example you are looking at not better described as a secondary protasis in an apodosis?

Yeah may be. I thought "if the chance was small" is a part of the apodosis posed against the protasis "if this had occurred in Japan". But we may say "Even if the chance was small, a doctor would have tried everything possible if this had occurred in Japan". So we may take both if-clauses as protases of equal weight. By the way, which one will you choose?

paco

Clive · Answer

Hi,

Well, in terms of semantics, it seems to me that the first protasis in the original text carries more weight. After all, the next sentence begins its comparison with a reference to Sri Lanka.

Clive

Paco2004 · Answer

Yeah I agree to your parsing. "If this had occurred in Japan" has more weight. But what I asked you is about the choice among "was", "were" or "had been".

paco

Hly2004 · Answer

If I were there,.........

(1)Even if i was there

or

(2)Even if I had been there?

I prefer the (1)

if clause in an apodosis

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