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MSoni Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Might?

In a today's newspaper in local vernacular I came across a sentence which I tried to translate in English like this:
If it might be possible he would have met her.
I doubt this sentence may not be correct.

Alternatively, I can write:
If it were possible he would have met her.
But it doesn't seem to give correct translation this way.
Here the condition is general and the situation is past.
I need your help.
Thanks a lot.
 MSoni
  

Top answer

You don't need both "might" and "possible"--they indicate the same thing. " Does this work for you?

  • You don't need both "might" and "possible"--they indicate the same thing.
  • " Does this work for you?
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7 Answers
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You don't need both "might" and "possible"--they indicate the same thing.
If you want the possibility in the past, I would say:
"If it had been possible, he would have met her."

Does this work for you?
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Thank you very much for noticing and answering my question Mr. D doctor. I meant general possibility not past possibility. Let me rephrase my sentence: If it might be a possibility he would have met her. Here possibility is 0%. Now does the sentence sound OK to you?
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MSoni I meant general possibility not past possibility. Let me rephrase my sentence: If it might be a possibility he would have met her. Here possibility is 0%. Now does the sentence sound OK to you?
Doctor D addressed this in his lat response.
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The problem is that "he would have met her" is in the past, so the possibility must also be in the past.
Even if you are saying that it was not possible. You can try other wordings, for example:

He would have met her if possible.
If he could have, he would have met her.
If it were possible to meet her, he would have.
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Thanks a lot for your kindheartedness. Again, the following sentence has the condition in general time and the result in past time:
If he weren't so lazy, he would've finished his work several days ago.
So in the same way, is it not possible to do for the originally posted sentence?
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Still no.

Let's look at your counter-example again:
If he weren't so lazy, he would've finished his work several days ago.
Yes, here we have a general condition-his being lazy-which begins in the past and continues into the future. (He, basically, is lazy). And we have a event (the non-completion of his work).

However, the original s
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Thanks a lot. Now I can at least think in that way. Hope I would continue to get your humble help.

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