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Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

Mixed conditionals

Hello everybody,

I saw on a book the following sentence
If ana had started the race better, she could win the gold medal.
Apparently it is a mix conditional.

If you know if this is correct or not, please tell me why.

Thank youu!
  

Top answer

Hi, Anonymous If ana had started the race better, she could win the gold medal. Apparently it is a mix conditional. This isn't a mixed conditional sentence.

— TomJ

  • Hi, Anonymous If ana had started the race better, she could win the gold medal.
  • Apparently it is a mix conditional.
  • This isn't a mixed conditional sentence.
  • Both parts of your sentence 'if ana had started the race better' and 'she could win the gold medal' denotes a past time.
  • She didn't start the race better, so she couldn't win the gold medal, but If she had, she could win (or could have won) the gold medal.
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5 Answers
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Hi,
AnonymousIf ana had started the race better, she could win the gold medal. Apparently it is a mix conditional.
This isn't a mixed conditional sentence. Both parts of your sentence 'if ana had started the race better' and 'she could win the gold medal' denotes a past time. She didn't start the race better, so she couldn't win the gold medal, but If she had, s
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What I see wrong with the sentence is that If Ana had started the race better describes a possibility that has already been eliminated, while she could win the gold medal describes a possibility that remains. If a good start is needed for a gold medal, her chance of winning is already gone.
You could say
If Ana had started the race better, she could have
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Thank you, very useful answer!
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AnonymousI saw on a book the following sentence
I saw the following sentence in a book.
AnonymousApparently it is a mix conditional.
Apparently it is a mixed conditional.

True. It's a mixed conditional. Unfortunately, it's not one that makes a lot of sense. If you want a mixed conditional for that s
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