Past perfect-conditional sentence

Question

I think I would use/would have used my knife and fork if the dinner hadn't started

Do we use the past perfect here to show it actually happened, as opposed to making a hypothetical statement?

Or/AND

Does the past perfect here show that the hadn't started happened before something else in the past?

is the difference between would use and would have used that the former suggests the dinner is still going, while the latter suggests it has ended?

Thanks

Englishmann · Accepted Answer

The answer is quite complex because the issue we are dealing with here is called "if clause"

On short and without mentioning the exceptions ( there are quite many, actually) :

Example, If clause 1 : I will use my knife if the dinner hasn`t started. ( future and present perfect)- POSSIBLE ACTION

Example, If clause 2 : I would use my knife if the dinner didn`t start. ( 1st cond. + past tense simple)- IMPROBABLE ACTION

Example, If clause 3 : I would have used the knife if the dinner had not started ( 2nd cond. + past perfect)- IMPOSSIBLE ACTION( it happened in the past with no possibility of reverting the events)

These are the general rules, past perfect is always required in a If 3 clause. It implies some regret for not having completed the action. It has nothing to do with "action before something else from the past" - that definition refers strictly to past perfect when we talk about a time range of "if-less" actions .

Would indeed shows the ongoing character of the utterance conditioned by something.

Would have shows the past character of the action on condition that something else happens first.

Again, my post is too short compared to a full explanation on conditonal but I hope it helps.

Past perfect-conditional sentence

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