0
Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Vocabulary
Learning English
COULD SOMEBODY MAKE ME UNDERSTAND THIS MEANING.....AND RULE FOR IT ?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN..? FOR
IF IT WASN'T FOR/ HADN'T BEEN FOR THOSE DELAYS ON THE MOTORWAY WE'D NEVER HAVE MISSED THE WEDDING .
EXPLAIN IT MEANINGFULLY ....
WHAT DOES IT MEAN..? FOR
IF IT WASN'T FOR/ HADN'T BEEN FOR THOSE DELAYS ON THE MOTORWAY WE'D NEVER HAVE MISSED THE WEDDING .
EXPLAIN IT MEANINGFULLY ....
Top answer
There were delays on the motorway. The delays caused us to arrive after the wedding was over. We would have arrived in time for the wedding if we had not been delayed.
- There were delays on the motorway.
- The delays caused us to arrive after the wedding was over.
- We would have arrived in time for the wedding if we had not been delayed.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
12 Answers
0
There were delays on the motorway. The delays caused us to arrive after the wedding was over. We would have arrived in time for the wedding if we had not been delayed.
00
AnonymousEXPLAIN IT MEANINGFULLY ....Please don't use upper case all the time. It's the forum equivalent of shouting.
Please try to phrase your question as a request rather than a demand.
Think about your punctuation. A series of dots is rarely appropriate.
00
It is a type of conditional sentence, I suggest revision in that area.
00
delay: something that hinders progress
motorway: path a vehicle takes to get somewhere
missed: did not attend
wedding: two people making the bond of lifetime commitment
Something happened on the "motorway" (slow traffic, an accident, hitting every red light, car trouble, etc) that kept some people from being able to attend a "wedding".
motorway: path a vehicle takes to get somewhere
missed: did not attend
wedding: two people making the bond of lifetime commitment
Something happened on the "motorway" (slow traffic, an accident, hitting every red light, car trouble, etc) that kept some people from being able to attend a "wedding".
00
I would suggest the the subtle difference between use of "wansn't for" and "hadn't been for" in the two versions of your sentence is in that the first wording implies that the event causing you to be late is still happening in the present. Whereas, the second option is something that is firmly in the past.
So you could clarify:
If it wasn't for the roadworks on the M5 causi
So you could clarify:
If it wasn't for the roadworks on the M5 causi
00
The sentence means that delays on the motorway were the sole reason for the writer's missing the wedding.
Both options you give are in the subjective, which is the verb tense used to express a condition (used after "if")
The first choice "if it wasn't for" is incorrect (that is a type of past tense, incorrectly used in a conditional clause), the correct version being "if it weren't for" (
Both options you give are in the subjective, which is the verb tense used to express a condition (used after "if")
The first choice "if it wasn't for" is incorrect (that is a type of past tense, incorrectly used in a conditional clause), the correct version being "if it weren't for" (
00
0
This is an example of a 3rd conditional construction. As they are quite complex, people tend to misuse or avoid them in informal speech. How you will translate any sentence depends on the context, purpose, prospective audience, etc of the text or utterance.
00
0
Anonymous Umm, you mean, "subjunctive".Yes. I imagine that he (or she) did mean that.
CJ
0
Related Questions