is 'if' omitted here?

Question

HiI would give anything she asked me to.I was wondering which word is omitted from the sentence above. If or that?I would give anything that she 'asked' me to. That? Must be, IMO.I would give anything if she asked me to. if? I do not think so.One more thing:I would give anything that she 'asked' me to.'Asked' and not 'would ask' because of tense simplification?I would give anything that she 'would ask' me to. No tense simplification here?Waiting for your comments.Thanks

Loojka · Accepted Answer

AnonymousHi

I would give anything she asked me to.

I was wondering which word is omitted from the sentence above. If or that?

I would give anything that she 'asked' me to. That? Must be, IMO.

I would give anything if she asked me to. if? I do not think so.
Thanks

Both can be correct, depending on what you're trying to say.
I would give anything that she 'asked' me to. - I would give anything that she wanted me to.
I would give anything if she asked me to. (condition emphasized) I would not give anything, unless she asked me to.

This explanation of mine seems a bit confusing to me now

AnonymousOne more thing:

I would give anything that she 'asked' me to.

'Asked' and not 'would ask' because of tense simplification?

I would give anything that she 'would ask' me to. No tense simplification here?

Waiting for your comments.

I'd say "asked".

SimpleHearted · Answer

LoojkaBoth can be correct, depending on what you're trying to say.
I would give anything that she 'asked' me to. - I would give anything that she wanted me to.
I would give anything if she asked me to. (condition emphasized) I would not give anything, unless she asked me to.

This explanation of mine seems a bit confusing to me now

Quite confusing it really is, I agree (no hard feelings, of course

), but I must also object that your explanation isn't quite correct either!

I was long ago taught that, if I were to express a so called "subjunctive condition" (i.e. the one with "implied negative"), I should always use should/would in the principal clause, and the simple past tense in the conditional (if) clause.

So, the meaning of:
I would give anything if she asked me to. (the one and only correct form!)
is:
"I would really like to give her anything she could possibly want! The sole 'problemo' is that she doesn't ask me to give it to her!"

On the other hand, the sentence:
I would give anything that she asked me to.
is IMHO grammatically impossible and totally incorrect! It could only mean:
I will give her anything (that) she asks for!
but, then, it should be written exactly like that!

CalifJim · Answer

You are correct that the word that is omitted from the sentence. But other words are also omitted.

I would give (her) anything (that) she asked me to (give her).

Don't place a second would there (*would ask). This is not a matter of tense simplification. The asking is the condition. The giving is the result. The condition in this kind of statement is not expressed with would.

CJ

Loojka · Answer

SimpleHeartedSo, the meaning of:
I would give anything if she asked me to. (the one and only correct form!)
is:
"I would really like to give her anything she could possibly want! The sole 'problemo' is that she doesn't ask me to give it to her!"

That's what I was trying to say, but failed to explain it clearly. When I said:

I would give anything if she asked me to. (condition emphasized) I would not give anything, unless she asked me to.

by this "I would not give anything" part I didn't mean to say "I would give nothing", it was more like "I would not give her everythingshe asked..." I was aware that my explanation was clumsy, that's why I said that it might be a bit confusing

Jim, are you saying that "if" cannot be omitted here?

SimpleHearted · Answer

Loojkaby this "I would not give anything" part I didn't mean to say "I would give nothing", it was more like "I would not give her everythingshe asked..." I was aware that my explanation was clumsy, that's why I said that it might be a bit confusing

Sorry, but I still think there's a huge difference between "I would not give anything, unless she asked me to, " and "I would give anything if she asked me to."

In the second sentence, the speaker expresses his willingness to give, while in the first one he's kind of selfish.

@ CalifJim
Are you really sure one could say: "I would give her anything that she asked me to give her." To me, it looks as if the sentence is incomplete - like something is missing (e.g. "I would give her anything that she asked me to give her, if only...")

CalifJim Don't place a second would there (*would ask). This is not a matter of tense simplification. The asking is the condition. The giving is the result. The condition in this kind of statement is not expressed with would.

I don't understand your explanation. You're talikng about condition, but I don't see how you can express condition unless you use "if"

Loojka · Answer

SimpleHearted Sorry, but I still think there's a huge difference between "I would not give anything, unless she asked me to, " and "I would give anything if she asked me to."

In the second sentence, the speaker expresses his willingness to give, while in the first one he's kind of selfish.

Have I ever said that the sentences have the same meaning?

Go back to my first post in this thread

SimpleHearted · Answer

Loojka
SimpleHearted Sorry, but I still think there's a huge difference between "I would not give anything, unless she asked me to, " and "I would give anything if she asked me to."

In the second sentence, the speaker expresses his willingness to give, while in the first one he's kind of selfish.

Have I ever said that the sentences have the same meaning? Go back to my first post in this thread

This is the quote from your first post in this thread, verbatim

I would give anything if she asked me to. (condition emphasized) I would not give anything, unless she asked me to.

Now, tell me: Who has bad eyesight here?

Loojka · Answer

LoojkaBoth can be correct, depending on what you're trying to say.

SimpleHearted · Answer

Loojka
LoojkaBoth can be correct, depending on what you're trying to say.

OMG! Please, for the sake of other members, don't play "broken phone lines" with me here!

The "both" from the quoted post refers to two examples given in the initial post of this thread.

Here's the complete quote of the aforementioned part of your first post:

LoojkaBoth can be correct, depending on what you're trying to say.
I would give anything that she 'asked' me to. - I would give anything that she wanted me to.
I would give anything if she asked me to. (condition emphasized) I would not give anything, unless she asked me to.

It is more than obvious that you suggested that "I would give anything if she asked me to." had the same meaning as "I would not give anything, unless she asked me to," which you have subsequently denied.

Again, I apologize to other members of this forum for mine and loojka's prolonged and somewhat boring discussion over some quite irrelevant issues!

Loojka · Answer

Oooook, I wasn't reading carefully, I thought you were talking about the two initial sentences with "that" and "if" They certainly are different.

Now I'm going to try to explain this "if" sentence once again and I'm not going into this any further, because I don't know what I'm reading any more

I would give anything if she asked me to. (condition emphasized) - I would give her anything she wanted if only she asked me to. She didn't get what she wanted since she didn't ask for it. If she asks for it, she will get it.

Now it's your turn to disagree

is 'if' omitted here?

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