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Samuraigirl Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Marry or not?

(I posted this topic as anonymous by mistake. I'm posting again because I might not trace my question.)

Is this sentence grammatically correct?

She thought she would marry if she had met a handsome man.

My exercise book says it's wrong, but I think otherwise.

She has the intention to marry if she had met a handsome man, but actually she hasn't met one, so she's still single.

Am I wrong?
  

Top answer

The combination "would marry ... had met" is awkward and hard to fit to a context. More usual would be "She thought she would marry if she met a handsome man" (she hadn't yet met a handsome man).

— GPY

  • The combination "would marry ...
  • had met" is awkward and hard to fit to a context.
  • More usual would be "She thought she would marry if she met a handsome man" (she hadn't yet met a handsome man).
  • "She thought she would have married if she had met a handsome man" is also possible if talking restrospectively about something that didn't happen.
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2 Answers
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The combination "would marry ... had met" is awkward and hard to fit to a context. More usual would be "She thought she would marry if she met a handsome man" (she hadn't yet met a handsome man).

"She thought she would have married if she had met a handsome man" is also possible if talking restrospectively about something that didn't happen.
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Present intention: She has the intention to marry if she meets had met a handsome man, but actually she hasn't met one, so she's still single.

Past intention: She had the intention to marry if she had met a handsome man, but actually she never hasn't met one, so she's still single.
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