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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Modal "would" in adverbial clauses
Hi, I wrote these sentences in a thread I started named 'Modal "would" correct in the if-clause?':
When we would visit (visited) Jane Doe, she made a great meal for us. As we would eat (ate) it, we would praise (praised) her lavishly on her cooking skill.
Are they correct? I think the past tense version looks correct . (Please look at the parentheses for past tenses). Anyway, I seem to see many instances where subordinate clauses of time like the one that starts with the conjunction "when" has the modal "would" after them.
I think the following shows some typical uses of the modal "would" (if I am not mistaken):
If I had some money, I would go to a store and buy two ice creams.
When he was in his teen, he would visit a store near his house to buy ice creams in summer.
Would you please help me with this question?
If you look at the sentences above, main clauses have the modal verb "would" in them, not in subordinate clauses.
As for an example that has the modal verb in an adverbial clause (subordinate clause?), I think this is correct.
John borrowed some money so that he would be able to buy some ice cream.
When we would visit (visited) Jane Doe, she made a great meal for us. As we would eat (ate) it, we would praise (praised) her lavishly on her cooking skill.
Are they correct? I think the past tense version looks correct . (Please look at the parentheses for past tenses). Anyway, I seem to see many instances where subordinate clauses of time like the one that starts with the conjunction "when" has the modal "would" after them.
I think the following shows some typical uses of the modal "would" (if I am not mistaken):
If I had some money, I would go to a store and buy two ice creams.
When he was in his teen, he would visit a store near his house to buy ice creams in summer.
Would you please help me with this question?
If you look at the sentences above, main clauses have the modal verb "would" in them, not in subordinate clauses.
As for an example that has the modal verb in an adverbial clause (subordinate clause?), I think this is correct.
John borrowed some money so that he would be able to buy some ice cream.
Top answer
These two are OK: When we would visit Jane Doe, she would make a great meal for us. As we would eat it, we would praise her lavishly on her cooking skill. When we visited Jane Doe, she made a great meal for us.
- These two are OK: When we would visit Jane Doe, she would make a great meal for us.
- As we would eat it, we would praise her lavishly on her cooking skill.
- When we visited Jane Doe, she made a great meal for us.
- As we ate it, we praised her lavishly on her cooking skill.
- -- Yes.
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1 Answers
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These two are OK:
When we would visit Jane Doe, she would make a great meal for us. As we would eat it, we would praise her lavishly on her cooking skill.
When we visited Jane Doe, she made a great meal for us. As we ate it, we praised her lavishly on her cooking skill.
Are they correct?-- Yes. The first describes an habitual past activity; the second a
When we would visit Jane Doe, she would make a great meal for us. As we would eat it, we would praise her lavishly on her cooking skill.
When we visited Jane Doe, she made a great meal for us. As we ate it, we praised her lavishly on her cooking skill.
Are they correct?-- Yes. The first describes an habitual past activity; the second a
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