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Anonymous Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
order of tenses
Hi All,
1> What are the rules for order of tenses ?? It would be really nice to know the order in which tenses can be used..
2> Since I am a realist, I did not take his words. ( Correct ??)
3> Also, wanted to know the usage of "would"..
I would do that ..( is this equivalent to "i will do that in that future" ??)..Also, when you use indirect speech, will is converted to would.. Ex: He said that he woud finace the car. == > he said "i will finance the car".. Here would is used in different meaning, correct ?
What does "he could do that" means ? Does it mean "he can do that" or "he can do that, but chances of he doing that are less" ??.. People use would and could interchangebly with will and can. Correct? I see that people in my office always say "i would" most of the times when i think they should be saying "I will"..
"i would have done that" what does this mean ?? Does this mean - "I had chance to do something .. I did not do that.. which i could have done that.. " .. OR does this mean "i will have that done in future" ??
It becomes more complicated in this example. He said "I will have done that".. This is means "he will have it done sometime in future".. But when this is converted to indirect speech, it becomes "he said that he would have done that".. Here it means "he could have done that (at some point in past).. But he did not do it..".. Correct ??
4> Can any one tell me what this sentence means ? ?
To be sure, there would be scarcely no time left over for other things if school children were expected to consider all sides of every matter on which they hold opinions.
Also, which is correct - are expected or were expected ??
Why in the hell, these tenses are so confusing.. Please bear with my frustration here..
thanks,
Sharad.
1> What are the rules for order of tenses ?? It would be really nice to know the order in which tenses can be used..
2> Since I am a realist, I did not take his words. ( Correct ??)
3> Also, wanted to know the usage of "would"..
I would do that ..( is this equivalent to "i will do that in that future" ??)..Also, when you use indirect speech, will is converted to would.. Ex: He said that he woud finace the car. == > he said "i will finance the car".. Here would is used in different meaning, correct ?
What does "he could do that" means ? Does it mean "he can do that" or "he can do that, but chances of he doing that are less" ??.. People use would and could interchangebly with will and can. Correct? I see that people in my office always say "i would" most of the times when i think they should be saying "I will"..
"i would have done that" what does this mean ?? Does this mean - "I had chance to do something .. I did not do that.. which i could have done that.. " .. OR does this mean "i will have that done in future" ??
It becomes more complicated in this example. He said "I will have done that".. This is means "he will have it done sometime in future".. But when this is converted to indirect speech, it becomes "he said that he would have done that".. Here it means "he could have done that (at some point in past).. But he did not do it..".. Correct ??
4> Can any one tell me what this sentence means ? ?
To be sure, there would be scarcely no time left over for other things if school children were expected to consider all sides of every matter on which they hold opinions.
Also, which is correct - are expected or were expected ??
Why in the hell, these tenses are so confusing.. Please bear with my frustration here..
thanks,
Sharad.
Top answer
) No, "would" is conditional and implies "if". If it were my choice, I would do that. If it were possible, I would do that.
- ) No, "would" is conditional and implies "if".
- If it were my choice, I would do that.
- If it were possible, I would do that.
- If I were you, I would do this.
- there would be scarcely no time left over for other things if school children were expected to consider all sides of every matter on which they hold opinions.
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3 Answers
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I would do that ..( is this equivalent to "I will do that in that future" ??)
No, "would" is conditional and implies "if".
If it were my choice, I would do that.
If it were possible, I would do that.
If I were you, I would do this.
there would be scarcely no time left over for other things if school children were expected
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Hi Eimai_Anglos,
Thanks a lot for taking time to address my doubts.. However, I need some more clarifications.
To be sure, there would be scarcely no time left over for other things if school children were expected to consider all sides of every matter on which they hold opinions.
In above exam
Thanks a lot for taking time to address my doubts.. However, I need some more clarifications.
To be sure, there would be scarcely no time left over for other things if school children were expected to consider all sides of every matter on which they hold opinions.
In above exam
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Hi Sharad,
Eimai Anglos offers a more fluent version.
But if you want to stick with your construction, you need to change 'scarcely no time' to 'scarcely any time'.
'Scarcely no time' really means something like, 'plenty of time', (although it's a backwards way of saying it.)
'Were expected' is correct when following 'if'.
Eimai Anglos offers a more fluent version.
But if you want to stick with your construction, you need to change 'scarcely no time' to 'scarcely any time'.
'Scarcely no time' really means something like, 'plenty of time', (although it's a backwards way of saying it.)
'Were expected' is correct when following 'if'.
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