If conditional Past Tense
Say if you’re writing in the past tense, e.g. Ten years ago, a man was tangled in wire. Say if his friend had offered to lend him a knife the day before. Which outcome would you use in an if conditional.
- Ten years ago, a man was tangled in wire. If he had borrowed the knife from his friend, he would be able to cut himself free.
Or.
- Ten years ago, a man was tangled in wire. If he had borrowed the knife from his friend, he would have been able to cut himself free.
As I know you can mix the conditionals, but, what I’m trying to ascertain is: does the imaginary outcome of the second conditional (would be) strictly relate to present time, or can it be used to imagine an outcome more recent than another event but both still occurring in the past.
Many thanks for any help,
Bob
Top answer
Apologies. I meant to number the second example “2”. Bob.
- Apologies.
- I meant to number the second example “2”.
- Bob.
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The first one sounds wrong, and a native speaker is likely to hear it as an accidental mistake that should have been the same as the second one.
The second one is correct.
anonymousAs I know you can mix the conditionals
But it's not done often.
anonymousdoes the imaginary outcome of the second conditional (would be) s
0
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