If it were to have rained

Question

What is the exact meaning of this sentence? Does it refer to the past or future, or both interpretation possible?

Do we need more context to decide?

"If it were to have rained every day, I would have been completely content with the music and the scenery".

JoshStafford · Accepted Answer

It refers to the past. 'Have rained'; 'have been' makes it past. Compare: "If it were to rain every day, I would be completely content with the music and the scenery".

Ambidextrous · Answer

Hi there.

It is an unreal past condition,

it means: I wasn't completely content with the music and the scenery, because it didn't rain every day.

Pructus · Answer

I see...

Thanks so much, JoshStafford....

I also checked your first novel at Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Where-Vultures-Roost-Josh-Stafford/dp/1413709117/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260650880&sr=8-1-spell

All positive reriews. I wish I could read it.

Pructus · Answer

Thanks a lot, ambidextrous!!

Thanks for your rephrase, too....

It makes your explanation a lot easier to understand.

Regards · Answer

pructusDoes it refer to the past or future, or both interpretation possible?
Do we need more context to decide?

Hi,

Further details are not needed in order to determine whether it refers to the future or to the past.

If it were to have rained every day, I'd have been completely content with the music and the scenery.

The intent: If there were a hypothetical condition at some point in the past in which we had rainy days only,

I would have been completely content with the music and the scenery. But there wasn't such a condition

in the past de facto, and therefore I couldn't be completely content with the music and the scenery.

You speculate on an event that didn't actually occur in the past as you wonder what would have

happened if it had been true.

Regards

Dimsumexpress · Answer

If it were to have rained

I am not sure how many people would actually say this.

This is no doubt a conditional sentence with hypethetical past. By the book, it requires a "would" answer. But in real life, not everyone follows that rule, so all kinds of mixed conditionals are used.

These are ok:

A - We definitely need a wet season. It hasn't been raining much the last two years. The resevoirs are receding.

B - I know. Even if it were to rain normally, it would take a weeks of steady rain to fill up the reservoirs.

W- I would have been so happy if it had rained like a normal summer. My garden is half dead because of the lack of water.

M - I would have gone golfing already had it rained like a normal rain reason. The golf green is in terrible shape.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

"If it were to have rained every day, I would have been completely content with the music and the scenery".

This is not very natural English. It is trying to express an unreal condition in the past.

This is the natural way to say the same thing:

"Even if it had rained every day, I would have been completely content with the music and the scenery".

Dimsumexpress · Answer

AlpheccaStars"If it were to have rained every day, I would have been completely content with the music and the scenery".

This is not very natural English. It is trying to express an unreal condition in the past.
This is the natural way to say the same thing:

"Even if it had rained every day, I would have been completely content with the music and the scenery".

That's the point I tried to get across.....

Pructus · Answer

Thanks everybody, Regards, dimsumexpress, AlpheccaStars….

Now, the sentence structure is so crystal clear!!

Many many thanks to you Forum Gurus!!

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