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Sabyakgp Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Modal verbs in Hypothetical past conditions.

Hello Friends,

I have a few queries concerning conditional clauses.

Here is a sentence.

If she would have agreed I might have married her.(Hypothetical past)

In this sentence, what does the if- clasue ('If she would have agreed' ) denotes? Does it denote willingness(volition) of the person I wanted to marry?

What is the difference between the first sentence and this sentence?

If she had agreed I might have/would have married her.

Could you please help me?

Best Regards,
Sabya
  

Top answer

If she would have agreed I might have married her. If she had agreed I might have/would have married her. would is not normally used in the if -clause of a conditional statement unless it is to emphasize some sort of reciprocal action.

— CalifJim

  • If she would have agreed I might have married her.
  • If she had agreed I might have/would have married her.
  • would is not normally used in the if -clause of a conditional statement unless it is to emphasize some sort of reciprocal action.
  • Other than this slight emphasis on reciprocity (She would do this for me -- I would do that for her), the two are identical.
  • I myself would not use the first one at all.
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1 Answers
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If she would have agreed I might have married her.
If she had agreed I might have/would have married her.

would is not normally used in the if-clause of a conditional statement unless it is to emphasize some sort of reciprocal action. Other than this slight emphasis on reciprocity (She would do this for me -- I would do that for her), the two are identical
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