Past tense
Hi, I have a slightly tricky question. We're dealing with a situation in the past: Mr. Chopra was supposed to finish a project earlier this year.
If Mr. Chopra hadn't finished the project, we would have found out.
In the above sentence, we are dealing with the past perfect. The sentence means that we definitely know Mr. Chopra did NOT finish the project. Because if he had, we would have found out.
But what if we don't actually know whether he finished it? Maybe he did. Maybe not. It's not certain that we would have found out. Can we now say: Even if Mr. Chopra finished the project, we might not have necessarily found out.
Or do we still stick to the past perfect?
Likewise: If he had mailed the package in June, you would have received it in July (the package was not sent in June, and nothing was received in July).
But what if the package wasn't received in July, but we believe it WAS sent in June? Can we say: If he mailed the package in June, you should have received it in July?
Thank you and I hope I am clear.
Top answer
anonymous The sentence means that we definitely know Mr. Chopra did NOT finish the project. Because if he had, we would have found out.
- anonymous The sentence means that we definitely know Mr.
- Chopra did NOT finish the project.
- Because if he had, we would have found out.
- No.
- We would have found out that he did not finish the project if he did not, but he in fact did.
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anonymousThe sentence means that we definitely know Mr. Chopra did NOT finish the project. Because if he had, we would have found out.
No. We would have found out that he did not finish the project if he did not, but he in fact did. To mean what you say, it would be, "If Mr. Chopra had failed to finish the project, we would have found out."
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