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Khoshtip Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

past time form of modals

In this sentence:

The salesman would have sold his products but he was late for his appointment.

What does the clause would have sold mean? Does it mean could sale?

What is the word "would" here, the past (tense) of the will?
  

Top answer

Think of it in terms of the imaginary (and impossible) third conditional: The salesman would have sold his products had he not been late for his appointment. had he not been = if he had not been

— Teechr

  • Think of it in terms of the imaginary (and impossible) third conditional: The salesman would have sold his products had he not been late for his appointment.
  • had he not been = if he had not been
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14 Answers
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Think of it in terms of the imaginary (and impossible) third conditional:

The salesman would have sold his products had he not been late for his appointment.

had he not been = if he had not been
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khoshtipWhat is the word "would" here, the past (tense) of the will?
Yes.

This verb form is the modal perfect. It is used for the past of modal verb forms. They are frequently seen in conditional sentences (unreal past).

Present, future: You can do it if you try.
Past (conditional): You could have done it if you had tried.

Pres
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teechrThe salesman would have sold his products had he not been late for his appointment.had he not been = if he had not been
So the meaning of that clause is much close to "could sale (but he couldn't because of ...), right?
If so, can we use the "could sale" and expect that the sentence has the same meaning?
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khoshtipSo the meaning of that clause is much close to "could sell" sale (but he couldn't because of ...), right?
Yes, it basically means that.
khoshtipIf so, can we use the "could sell" sale and expect that the sentence has the same meaning?
No, that wouldn't work.
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khoshtipSo the meaning of that clause is much close to "could sell (but he couldn't because of ...), right?
Not exactly.
Note the difference between the verb (sell) and the noun (sale.)

Two possibilities:
1. He arrived late. He didn't sell anything.
2. He arrived on time. He sold everything.

So # 2 was a possibility, but i
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What is the problem with this sentence:
He would sell his products but he was late for his appointment.
AFAIK, would is used to return a verb to the past. For example, if I were there I would sell more products. This one, and the other should not have any issue.
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khoshtipHe would sell his products but he was late for his appointment.
That is an illogical sequence of tenses.

He used to go to the central market where he would sell his wares. (habitual action in the past.)
He said he would sell his products there, but he was late for his appointment, so he didn't sell anything. (back sh
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What do you mean by back shifted "would"?
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Backshifting means the change of tense in reported speech.

Example: I am talking to John about his visit.
John said, "I will arrive tomorrow." (This is direct speech. It is a quotation of the actual words John says.)

A few minutes later I am talking to Mary, and I tell her what John told me. This is indirect speech.

Mary: "What did John say about his
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khoshtipThe salesman would have sold his products but he was late for his appointment.
Paraphrase: It looked like the salesman was going to sell his products. It certainly seemed like he was going to succeed at doing that. All the evidence pointed to that result. (The speaker was sure of that result.) However, the salesman failed to do that because he was l
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