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Jack112 Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Mixed Conditional

Scenario: I was playing computer games earlier and I still am and my friends drops and asks me if I'm done with my homework and I say:

1. I think i would be done by now if I hadn't messed aorund.
2. I think i would be done by now if I didn't messed aorund.

Which one would I use? I think I should use #2? I'm still messing around? Does #2 refer to the past though?

Thanks.
  

Top answer

I would have been done with it by now, had I not messed around. Savvy

— Savvysavz

  • I would have been done with it by now, had I not messed around.
  • Savvy
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15 Answers
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I would have been done with it by now, had I not messed around.

Savvy
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P.S. "didn't messed" is not correct, you want a bare infinitive after "did": "didn't mess".
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Dear Jack112,


«I think I would be done by now if I hadn't messed around.»
This is correct. It means that the «messing around» is over. You are now serious.
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You can't have two past tense markers in a row like that: "didn't messed" and if you call "messed" a past participle, it still won't work because "do" can't be followed by a past participle. So the second one is definitely wrong. The first one is OK, though.

CJ
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Jack112
Scenario: I was playing computer games earlier and I still am and my friends drops and asks me if I'm done with my homework and I say:

1. I think I would be done by now if I hadn't messed around.
2. I think I would be done by now if I didn't mess around.

Which one would I use? I think I should use #2? I'm still messing arou
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2a. I think I would be done by now if I didn't mess around.

To clarify:

This refers to a habit ("messing around"); but it might still be used in the context of real "messing around".

In other words, you have been messing around, as you always do, and so you're not "done".

MrP
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Are both of these fine?

1. Cars would be so much more efficientin gas if they hadn't traded horsepower for gas mileage. ('hadn't' refers to the past? With this sentence I have a logical sequence? past action = present result?)

2. Cars would be so much more efficientin gas if they didn't traded horsepower for gas mileage. ('didn't' refers to right now? They are still
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Hello, Jack,

On a purely grammatical level, you've made the same mistake: you can't have "didn't traded": "did" and "didn't" are followed by a bare infinitive, you need "didn't trade", here...
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In mixed coditional , which of the following could be correct :

If the gorillas in Rwanda hadn't become a tourist attraction ,they would possibly disappear by now.

If the gorillas in Rwanda hadn't become a tourist attraction ,they would have disappeared by now.
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If they hadn't become... they would have disappeared.
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