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Newguest Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
If Mr X wasn't ....
Hi
Let's say I won a run on 200 metres and broke a world record. Then I talk to the reporter and I tell him:
If Mr X wasn't pushing me, I wouldn't have made it.
If Mr X wasn't pushing me, I wouldn't make it.
If Mr X hadn't been pushing me, I wouldn't have made it.
Are all of these constructions correct in this context?
(by "pushing" I mean that he was running on the adjacent lane very close to me, so I had to run faster)
Let's say I won a run on 200 metres and broke a world record. Then I talk to the reporter and I tell him:
If Mr X wasn't pushing me, I wouldn't have made it.
If Mr X wasn't pushing me, I wouldn't make it.
If Mr X hadn't been pushing me, I wouldn't have made it.
Are all of these constructions correct in this context?
(by "pushing" I mean that he was running on the adjacent lane very close to me, so I had to run faster)
Top answer
Newguest If Mr X hadn't been pushing me, I wouldn't have made it. That's the one you want.
- Newguest If Mr X hadn't been pushing me, I wouldn't have made it.
- That's the one you want.
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3 Answers
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NewguestIf Mr X hadn't been pushing me, I wouldn't have made it.That's the one you want.
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Thanks for the answer. I wonder whether in AmE the 1st or 2nd construction would also be correct.
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Newguest I wonder whether in AmE the 1st or 2nd construction would also be correct.I doubt it. In BrE, "If Mr X wasn't/weren't pushing me" suggests that Mr X is pushing the speaker at the moment of speaking, or in the general present. As far as I know, this is the same in AmE, except that I believe Americans would be more likely to use 'weren't'.
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