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Tamguatlay Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
If he were shorter, he would be dead.
The following is from a local newspaper.
The employer of the man, who was hit by a reversing forklift, said at the scene of the accident, "If he were shorter, he would be dead."
Shouldn't it be "If he had been shorter, he would have died."
Thanks.
The employer of the man, who was hit by a reversing forklift, said at the scene of the accident, "If he were shorter, he would be dead."
Shouldn't it be "If he had been shorter, he would have died."
Thanks.
Top answer
No; his height hasn't changed. These two are grammaticaly correct: If he were shorter, he would be dead. ("being dead" can be viewed as an unchanging state) If he were shorter, he would have died.
- No; his height hasn't changed.
- These two are grammaticaly correct: If he were shorter, he would be dead.
- ("being dead" can be viewed as an unchanging state) If he were shorter, he would have died.
- (past action/event that technically didn't take place) The latter is analogous to If he were shorter, he would have been killed , with the only difference being that "die" is intransitive and "kill" is transitive.
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4 Answers
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No; his height hasn't changed.
These two are grammaticaly correct:
If he were shorter, he would be dead. ("being dead" can be viewed as an unchanging state)
If he were shorter, he would have died. (past action/event that technically didn't take place)
The latter is analogous to If he were shorter, he would have been killed, with the only differen
These two are grammaticaly correct:
If he were shorter, he would be dead. ("being dead" can be viewed as an unchanging state)
If he were shorter, he would have died. (past action/event that technically didn't take place)
The latter is analogous to If he were shorter, he would have been killed, with the only differen
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"If he had been shorter, he would have died" is also possible. The speaker is thinking of how 'he' was at the time of the accident.
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Okay, it is also grammatically correct (now I see that the way I worded my previous post suggested it wasn't), but I can't really imagine myself using it in this context. I might use it of something that happened a long time ago.
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I am quite sure I say that sort of thing. Probably at the back of my mind is some thought along the lines of "If the situation had been different in some ways, the next thing would \(not) have happened". When the details are filled in, the concentration on the real and hypothetical events of the past shut out thoughts of what may still be true in the present.
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